


Requiem for an Ideal

by iterations



Category: Alien vs Predator (2004), Aliens vs Predators Series - Various Authors, Predator (Yautja) & Related Fandoms, Predator (Yautja) - All Media Types
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alien Culture, Alien Sex, Angry Sex, Biting, Blood and Gore, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Hunting, Multi, OT3, POV Multiple, Pining, Rough Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:48:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 37,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22960465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iterations/pseuds/iterations
Summary: Yuri-xhi'xa was the ideal female. She had the ideal physique, the ideal career and the ideal looks. All she needed to reach perfection was the ideal mate, and what would make the blood in someone's veins pump faster than the biennial Elite kv'var?
Relationships: Yautja/Yautja (Predator)
Comments: 146
Kudos: 51





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [elven_prophecy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elven_prophecy/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Hunter's Requiem](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20825840) by [elven_prophecy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elven_prophecy/pseuds/elven_prophecy). 



> This is a spin-off on the epic story [Hunter's Requiem](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20825840/chapters/49506575). **Setg'in-yu'san** belongs to elven_prophecy, thank you for allowing me to borrow your characters and helping me out. Predators and Xenomorphs belong to 20th Century Fox.

_Setg'in-yu'san_. The name she would scream in her first throes of passion; The name she would tell her pups when they ask who sired them; The name she would whisper on her last breath when Cetanu takes her to the eternal hunting ground; The name of the only male that could ever be worthy of her... But he had chosen to fraternize with a puny ooman! A weak creature unworthy to be called female and in all aspects unfit to carry his offspring. If Set would choose her – Yuri-xhi'xa - she would give him strong pups! They would be tall, swift and intelligent, colored in speckled patterns of deep green, browns and cream!

This was only a fraction of the flurry of thoughts that raced through Yuri's head as she stomped through the passageways on board the clan ship. She had missed the entire fight! Judging by everyone's descriptions it had been an intense one too. Vor'mekta had not stood a chance and Set had crushed the leader. The Elite had retained the upper hand the entire fight, and by the grace of Paya he had slain the clan leader - _former_ clan leader, Yuri had to correct herself. Set was the leader now. Did that make him less desirable? - Not by a long shot.

What was even worse than foregoing the challenge was the activities that apparently had taken place _after_ said fight. Set had pauked the ooman in the sanctum – several times – and in manners unheard of! Apart from the fact that the clan had a new leader _this_ was the talk of everyone on the ship. Set had walked in merely hours ago together with his living ooman prey, taken the throne and pauked his pet in front of everyone who wished to watch. The last part made Yuri furious, not on account of the public debauchery, it was common for yautjas, but because it was not _her_ Set had pauked on the high seat.

Not that she _owned_ Set – no. He could pauk whomever as far as Yuri was concerned, yautjas were liberal in that sense. It was that Setg'in-yu'san had never so much as _looked_ at her. She was one of the most popular females in the clan, maybe even on Yautja Prime. She was a renowned huntress, her understanding of prey and the r'ka was almost on par with Set himself. Her trophy wall spanned the entirety of the north wall in her home on Prime. She was not weak, nor unproven, or untrained. 

Yuri was fine on the eyes as well. Over 8' tall, her coloring was nothing short of spectacular with a dark cream colored base, highlighted with brown patterns that ran down her shoulders and sides, snaking their way down over her hips and the insides of her thighs. She was covered in scars from her kv'vars, testaments of her prowess. Her dreads were light brown and reached to her lower back and her eyes were the same color as the golden sands of Al'un-dava. All males stared at her when she walked by, most females too. It would make any female proud, but not her. There was only one she wanted to notice her, _only one_ , and he had never been interested in her. He was the only one she would consider mating with, and he treated her like she was air – like she was _nothing!_

The first time Yuri had laid eyes on Set was when she had passed her chiva almost three centuries ago. Her team of young bloods had completed the trial on an outpost planet and retrieved the heads of the r'ka they had killed. Set had been attending the blooding ceremony because, as chance would have it, one of the young hunters was his pup. Yuri had been impressed with him from the start. His height and green coloring had been what had drawn her to him at first, but she supposed there was something in his gait that made it hard to look away. His walk was distinctly masculine. The infatuation only grew when she found out he was an Elite and had slain no less than three r'ka queens.

Their paths had crossed several times since then and they had even been on hunting parties together on several occasions. Set had always turned down her every attempt at getting to know him better. No amount of purring, swaying her hips or douching him in her musk had been effective. If she had not known better she would have thought him a gelding, but he had obviously sired several pups both before and after their encounters.

She was in deep too, couldn't stop comparing every single male to him. They all fell short obviously. Too small, too skinny, too wide, too plain, too lazy, too _...not Set._ Other females her age had already birthed several pups, but not Yuri. She had not even mated with a male because the only one that she could ever imagine doing it with was ...well you know.

Yuri sighed heavily, deep in thought. She was not getting any younger... and that is why she had decided to up her game the next time she saw him. She had planned several scenarios in her head and felt confident that _this_ was the time he would crumble. He would see _her_ , and fall harder than a ghequo speared by her bhrak-chei. Nothing, however, had prepared her for the shock of when he boarded the clan ship with his ooman pet in tow. The little female had been clutching his loincloth and following him around like a suckling. 

She had grabbed a hold of his dreads and purred for him. "Forget what it is like to bed a real woman?" she had said and locked eyes with him. She had shown dominance and confidence, the two things that their people found most attractive. There had been a glint of _something_ , maybe chemistry, but it had disappeared right away and Set had turned her down once again. She had even propositioned that he should bring the ooman back to her quarters to watch them mate, but he had shoved her back and continued on with his pet.

Scorned and seething, Yuri had stormed to her quarters to take out her aggressions on the sparring robot. Once the device was turned into nothing but scrap metal, she had exited her room and that was when she heard the talk. Set had taken Vor'mekta's position. An Elite, he was not even an Arbitrator, a renowned lone wolf that stayed out on kv'var for months at a time rather than building liaisons. No one had seen it coming. Yuri was sure he had his motivations aside from stopping challenges about his ooman pet. No one was beyond reproach, not even the clan leader. The question was still – why?

She was suddenly standing in front of the tall, black doors to the clan leader's sanctum. Her hearts were hammering in her chest, her hands were cold and twitching beside her thighs and her mouth dry like a pauk-de desert. The doors were unlocked. A leader should be shown due respect and no one would dare to barge in or disturb them with trivial matters. There was no more to it than to take a deep breath and a step forward, the doors wheezed open and Yuri made the long walk towards the high seat.

Set was not seated on it. He lounged against the wall, having a discussion with two of the more senior councilmen when Yuri approached. His amber eyes flickered to her momentarily, she froze briefly, but it passed. He returned his focus back on the one talking to him again. Her scales flared a little at his attention, but she suppressed it. Stopping at a respectful distance, Yuri lowered her eyes to pay respect to their new leader while Set continued to listen to the elderly Yautja talk about the importance of game conservation. 

Yuri studied the ooman female that was seated on the floor a couple of arm lengths from Set, chained to his belt. She had sensed the ooman react to her presence when she entered the sanctum. The pet had tensed and the slightest hint of fear had wafted from her when she had looked at Yuri. Pitiful. There were no nice words to describe the creature that was crouched on the floor, doodling in a book. She never looked Yuri in the eyes and the large female could not help to feel satisfied over the ooman's obvious apprehension. If Set had not stood right where he did, she would have hissed in contempt, and killed the other female.

“Sei-i?” The low, melodic voice of the male Yuri adored brought her out of her reverie. Her eyes snapped to Set who was now staring at her. She froze again, and just stopped herself from purring. The two councilmen were leaving, but not before one of them had stolen an eyeful of Yuri – her ass in particular. She would have barked at him in any other situation, her lower mandibles were already twitching to flare out, but she had more pressing matters to attend to… like her reason for coming here… 

“Master...” This was where Yuri drew a blank. _Why was she even there?_ She needed to come up with a reason fast, or else she would look foolish. Set was eying her intensely. Up close he reeked of ooman mating musk. It made Yuri's stomach turn, but she masked her revulsion with a deep bow. “I wish to pay my master a tribute to commend his sovereignty.” She held her head bent as she spoke, her dreads sliding off her shoulder, hoping that Set would not notice her self-doubt.

“No need for tributes,” Set replied curtly and tilted his head slightly. Yuri raised her head to look at him. He was hard to read. His body relaxed, feet wide apart at shoulder width, but there was a sharpness in his eyes, as if he was assessing her. “Name?”

“Yuri-xhi'xa,” she said it proudly although she cursed under her breath at the fact that he had not remembered it. They had met several times before for pauk's sake! With her back straightened she was a good feet taller than him. An impulse to pick him up and spin him over her knee came over her, but she quickly killed that absurd thought. Now was not the time.

Set made a small motion with his head that was barely a nod. He looked like he was waiting for her to either continue, or leave. Her eyes lowered to the leash and she was hit with inspiration.

“One of your hounds is sired from my best tracker," she started confidently, "I have a new litter down in the kennel that I think would interest you," Set was known to keep a lot of animals, "If you were looking for a new canine, that is.” Yuri shifted her weight to her left leg and waited impatiently for Set to respond to her offer. He seemed to think it over and his eyes wandered briefly to the ooman sitting on the floor before they returned to Yuri. He nodded and her hearts almost stopped. _Sei-i!_

“I will be down shortly to see what you have to offer.” Set turned his back to her deliberately, ending the conversation before Yuri had a chance to reply or bow her head in assertion. There would be another chance if he came down to the kennel, she decided, turned around and left the sanctum.

The kennel was in the lower part of the ship, separated from the living quarters since the hounds could get noisy when they were left alone. Yuri was the designated trainer and breeder and they had a good stock of both trackers and sentinels aboard. The clan ship would cruise between yautja controlled solar systems to trade and negotiate with other clans as well as make recreational stops. It was necessary to have a pack of hounds aboard for hunting, but also for trading with other clans and outcrossing the genetic lines, keeping the offspring healthy.

When Yuri entered the kennel the barking and whining stopped and the hounds pressed their snouts toward the grates on their cages. All their tails wagged, the speed ranging from frantic to a lazy swaying. They had to be kept in cages when Yuri was gone to keep them from killing or maiming each other. The sentinels were bred to be fierce guard dogs and needed the presence of a strong leader to be kept in check. She was the leader here, the alpha of the pack. The trackers were a bit more mild mannered and focused, but they could inflict a lot of damage as well.

Bitches in estrus were kept separate and only mounted by their chosen males. The newest litter was kept in the same room. Whelps barely waned from suckling were playing inside a large cage, their mother rose from her bed and trotted towards the opening, her tail wiggling and long tongue lolling out from her maw. When Yuri opened the hatch the female stopped and whined until Yuri presented her hand for licking. The coarse tongue lapped sloppily at her hand until Yuri decided it was enough and withdrew it. She ducked and climbed inside the cage to check on the whelps. There were three males and two females. Even this early Yuri could tell one of the pups wouldn't cut it and would most likely have to be put down. He was skittish and always last to latch on to a teat. It was evident by his smaller size. One of the other males was an obvious sentinel type. He showed much dominance already and bullied his siblings. If he turned out right he could be used to sire many future litters. His eight antlers were already twice the length of the others, but were still blunt and had a bit of velvet fuzz on them.

Yuri reached down and rubbed the stubby back spikes on one of the females. She was the most affectionate of the litter, although none of the hounds were bred to be cuddly. They were brought to this world to work. After making sure all the whelps were healthy she returned to the other room and opened four of the thirteen cages. It was better to exercise the hounds in smaller packs, even though she had the capability to handle them all at once. Many of the dozens of scars decorating her body were from her own hounds when they got overly excited, it came with the job description.

This pack was of the fighting kind. In the far end of the room Yuri had placed a dummy made of thick hide that was filled with sand. The hounds were shivering with anticipation, their eyes trained on their Alpha, waiting for her signal to start the attack. Good, they were moving as a pack. Yuri pulled out the whistle from her belt and placed it between her teeth. A keen bark erupted from one of the dogs, earning a sharp stare from Yuri. She growled low at him until his many sharp back spikes were pressed back against his scaly, green hide and his head hung towards the ground.

The shrill tune of the whistle was barely audible but the dogs perked up immediately and charged against the dummy. The heavy doll quaked and creaked on the impact when the four beasts pounced and latched onto different body parts. This doll had a therapsid shape with four stubby legs, a thick torso and small head. The hounds had all sunken their teeth deep into the hide and were tearing and shaking at their bounty until another whistle-blow was chiming through the room and they all let go simultaneously. Yuri clicked her mandibles in appreciation and dug in her belt pouch for rewards. The hounds jumped and came to sit in front of her, earning a small piece of jerky as compensation for their efforts.

Yuri repeated the exercise a few more times before it was time for another pack of hounds to perform. They repeated the same routine. One of the legs of the dummy had been almost severed and sand was leaking out from holes where the teeth had shredded the hide. She would have to mend it before using it again. The last group of five were thankfully trackers. They needed different exercises. She had another room prepped with hidden rags that were scented with r'ka saliva. Training trackers aboard the ship was not ideal since the place was too cramped. The hounds were too reliant on scent through air to find the items. When she had the chance to take them planetside again it would be easier to lay tracks so they could sniff the ground instead.

Yuri let them in two and three at a time and they were quick to find the rags, but since she had hidden them inside various containers that needed a bit of brain power to get open, they still got a good deal of training from it. Once she was done with all the exercises several hours had passed. Set had not been down there yet, but if he said he would come, he would. It was just a matter of time, and if all went according to plan, she would impale herself on his ze'pha and become pregnant with his young, all the while his ooman pet was watching.

Her wrist gauntlet beeped with a new message and she accessed it quickly in hope it was Set. So it was! But this was a message to all aboard the ship. They were making a descent to Yautja Prime. Set was meeting the Empress and there would be a ceremony for the transition of the cloak of power. The ship was hovering practically above the planet but it had been years since she had been home – _home!_


	2. Chapter 2

The clan ship had landed on a plateau near the capital since it was too large to fit on any of the landing pads inside the city. Yuri was one of the last to leave the ship, having had some trouble finding a suitable caretaker for her animals. She could unfortunately not bring them all with her but the ones she did, she was holding on a leash. They were young and in dire need of training. She would get on with it as soon as she had checked her house, which was located in the outer tier of the capital. The capital on Prime was built inside an enormous crater. In the center, the Empress’ pyramid towered over the rest of the buildings, which were raised in spiral patterns. Down in the middle of the crater, the buildings were taller with numerous floors, as the topography got more elevated, the houses were built lower. This resulted in a symmetrical metropolis which looked homogeneous from a distance but once inside, one could see the differences in architecture and marvel over the fact that all roads pointed towards the pyramid.

It was the middle of the dry season. The scorching suns made the air vibrate and everything was covered with a thin layer of red dust from the desert surrounding the city. The heat felt good on her scales as she walked down the slope to her home. She had missed this! Her aseigan met her up outside and caught the leash, leading the hounds inside a side building. Yuri made a quick inspection of her home. Everything seemed to be in order, her trophy wall was clean and complete. She had a trustworthy aseigan, she would thank the female later, but first she was taking a bath and then she had to get her equipment in order.

She undressed while the bathing hole in her bathroom began to fill with water and when she was done, she added one of her favorite scented oils. It would feel good to soak in the water alone for once. There were always others bugging her on the clan ship when she was taking her baths. The temperature was perfect, a snippet higher than her own body temperature. It would not cool either since there was a thermostat in the hole. She slipped down with a contented purr until the water reached her shoulders. There was only one thing that could make this even better... She closed her eyes and imagined that Set was sitting across from her, leaning on the side of the bath.

Yuri envisioned him completely bare and erect, purring deeply in his chest and releasing his dai-shui, making the entire room smell heady and bristling with electricity. He would beg to touch her and once she had toyed with him enough, he would have jumped on her and clamped his mandibles around her throat. The powerful mouth-parts would pinch her - _hard_ \- until the blood in her arteries was almost cut off and she was panting underneath him. Set would then grab a handful of her tresses and stroke them, from root to tip, making her squirm and purr. She was doing it now, heat beginning to bloom in her yon-i. Paya, it felt so good to pull on the velvety tendrils, hard enough to balance on the knife's edge of pain... She was almost moaning when her golden eyes snapped open harshly. Her heat period must be coming on. It would not do to have these kinds of thoughts instead of acting them out. She was wasting time!

Yuri stood up forcefully, splashing water around the room. She wrapped the loincloth around her waist and pulled on her netting. She had to search through her large closet to find her best greaves and gauntlets made of black leather, enforced by a shimmering d'lex net. She found a heavy necklace made of various animal teeth and a plain hair band, also made of d'lex, which she used to tie up her tresses. Now she looked like the fully fledged r'ka huntress she was.

Set would most likely be at his own house, which was located in another part of the city. There was of course a chance he would be at the pyramid already, but the ceremony was not scheduled until the next evening and Yuri did not think Set would spend more time with the Council of Ancients than necessary. The suns were already standing high when she got moving, the heat was sweltering and the metal on her armor glittered in the light. She was Lil-ka made flesh, incomparable and undefeated, none could resist her allure. This would be Set's undoing, she could not conceive any other outcome. His resolve would melt like wax in her hands, leaving her with his wooden core; his tangy, resinous essence... _Sei-i..._

His house was more like a palace than an ordinary house. It had two stories towering over her and was surrounded by a high wall that obscured the view of his front yard. She pressed her gauntlet to the buzzer to announce her arrival. It took a while before Set answered and opened the gates for her.

The yard on the other side of the wall was like nothing she had ever seen. Set was a curious hunter with a lot of eccentricities that were uncommon to yautjas. He had planted tall succulents around the house and constructed an irrigation system with pipes that were stuck in the ground, drawing water from a built-in, circular reservoir at the side of the house. There was a small outdoor kehrite with a climbing frame and weights, covered by a screen to block the sun.

Before she could reach the door to knock, it was opened and Set was standing in the door frame. The entrance was elevated, making him the the same height as Yuri when she stood on the lowest step of the stairs. His dreads bristled when he moved his head. As the clips scattered over them caught the light, they almost blinded her. She froze - _again_. What the pauk was wrong with her! Every time they met she lost the ability to form words and it felt as if time stopped.

Set was eyeing her in a very flattering way that would have made her preen if she had not been so pauk-de nervous. He took a step back and turned his side to her, creating an opening in the door that looked nothing but welcoming. He raised a spiked brow when she did not move a muscle. “Huntress?”

Yuri startled and felt her blood speed up when awkwardness flooded her system. Why was this not as easy as training hounds? She swallowed hard and climbed the steps on her wobbly legs. Set was standing within reach and the opening was so narrow she could brush against him when she entered and no one could blame her... She did not.

Inside, the walls were filled with smaller trophies and hides. She studied them intently as Set closed the door and trapped the heat outside. He was watching her quietly and waited for her to spill her business. Yuri wondered if he kept all the r'ka queen trophies at his house or if he had them on his private ship. She would very much like to see them, _so pauk-de much!_ “Quite an impressive collection”, she cooed and swept her eyes over his walls once again. “But where are the kiande amedha?”

Set narrowed his eyes and seemed to give it some thought before his expression lightened up and his eyes shot towards a door in the back of the house. "In my trophy chamber," he murmured. Did he puff up a bit when he said that or was it just Yuri's imagination?

“Oh...” Yuri had to suppress a purr that wanted to escape her throat. She smoothed her dreads with her claws instead, watching Set as he was eyeing her. The air inside the house seemed to densify and just when she was about to ask him if she could see his trophy wall, he beat her to it.

“Would you like to see my trophies?” he actually purred for her. Set was definitely puffing up now. The quills on his brow seemed to flare and he was flexing the muscles on his abdomen to make him look even bigger than he was. Yuri was almost drooling when he turned around and started to walk towards the back of the house. Paya, she would like to see him walk without his loincloth. His ass cheeks were moving underneath it as he strode towards his trophy room. She was following close behind him, this was unbelievable!

The chamber lit up automatically when he put in the code to the lock and the door opened. Her eyes widened as the rows on rows of meticulously polished r'ka skulls came into view. On the far wall of the chamber, a large silver throne was placed against the wall. On the wall, on either side of the throne, the two large r'ka queen heads were mounted, with their mouths opened wide and the inner mouths of both were extended in aggression. He walked forward, motioning her to his side as they approached his inner sanctum.

She purred uncontrollably as she imagined Set fighting the serpents. "She," he motioned the one on the left, "was a party hunt," he explained, "Vor'mekta, myself and Tan'shi took her down," he motioned the other head, "I killed this one alone." To Yuri, Set was a dream. She did not even notice that her h'dui'se, musk, was clodding the air. Set chittered quietly and moved a bit closer. She understood what she was doing when she saw his tongue rattle behind his teeth.

How many times had she not imagined exactly this scenario? Would he pauk her against the _tzompantli_ with the r'ka skulls? He was purring now, so close to her that she could feel his breath on her scales. Yuri was inhaling the air deeply. The thick and potent scent of his dai-shui was surrounding her, the smell of the dto heavy. She felt her entire body itch, and she wanted to bite him, draw his thwei and swirl it inside her mouth. Her hands moved instinctively to his dreads and she pulled on them firmly, applying the perfect amount of pressure to send spikes of electricity down his spine.

Set stilled completely. His eyes narrowed. His dai-shui evaporated and he growled low in his throat, the sound not welcoming. It was a long moment before Yuri realized that it was her touching his dreads that had caused the reaction. She lowered her hand slowly.

"State your business," he spoke matter-of-factly, all signs of his amorous behaviour gone. Yuri opened her mouth, her mandibles clicked nervously as his predatory eyes narrowed. She had come to seduce him… no other reason… "Leave," he growled after a long moment of silence. She purred but it stuttered to a stop as he continued to stare at her, "Now." He looked so menacing, his muscles locking, that Yuri nodded curtly and turned on her heels and left. 

Confusion rattled her brain when she found herself standing outside the gates of his house. What had just happened?! Had she blown her chances? Did he… she tilted her head to the side as the unbelievable thought crossed her mind … _not_ like his tresses grabbed? The notion was _hulij-bpe_ , sei-i, he _must_ be crazy!

It would not do to try and wing it and fumble like she had done these previous attempts. If she was going through with this seduction she had to be meticulous, she had to come up with a solid plan! Once it was set in motion she would only have to follow her own steps and Set would be trapped in her tantalizing mating-net.

  


* * *

  


The next day Yuri was up with the suns. She had prepared courses for the hounds the previous evening by dragging two pieces of cadaver across the desert outside the city. After depositing the cadavers at the goal, she had crossed her own footprints several times. She had done it again right before going to bed to create scent trails of herself with varying freshness. Having the patience to prepare the trails and let the scent sink into the ground was the most important part of her work as a trainer. Sometimes prey had to be followed for weeks and the tracks could be several days old. Trails dissolved slowly and there was still scent to be found in these day old tracks. Training with a freshly lain trail would teach the hound the wrong technique and it would smell the scent particles on the air, rather than in the ground.

For her more experience hounds, Yuri would lay tracks crossing busy roads or game trails. The conflicting scents was the ultimate test to see that the canine could stay focused on the scents she had trained them to follow. She would alter the lure once in a while, adjusting her hounds to be able to scent all kinds of popular prey; oomans and r'ka being two of the top sports for her patrons.

As always, she started with the most inexperienced of the hounds. She put a harness on him with a long line to be able to reel in the beast if he were to run too fast - it was known to happen. The trail started 1000 metras from her home and was marked with a painted boulder. The hound was panting and straining on the leash, eager to get to work. All of them quickly learned that once the harness was on, fun times were upon them. 

Yuri waited until the canine had vented the worst of the excitement and was focusing on her, before giving him the signal to start. The hound put his nose to the ground, just as he was taught to do, and took off. It did not take him long to find the trail and Yuri was running after him to keep up with the pace. He managed to stay on track at the first bend of the trail but when he encountered one of Yuri's side-tracks he became confused and shot off on the wrong trail. Yuri had to yank on the line to get him to stop and backtrack. Once he found the right trail again Yuri immediately clicked her mandibles at him to enforce the correct behavior. 

The mandible-clicking was conditioned to be positive for the hound from a young age, as well as a natural sign of regard from the yautjas. With a little help from Yuri the hound managed to stay on the trail for the rest of the course. The smelly, bloated carcass at the end of it was well received and were before long put to rest inside the belly of her beast.

The second hound cleared its course in record-time, earning his meal before the heat became too much and the animals needed to be put back inside their shelter. Yuri managed to squeeze in a trip to check on the hounds on the ship, before it was time to prepare for the ceremony. She did not have any more obligations than to witness the passing of the cloak of power to Set, but there was still a lump in her throat that would not be swallowed down. What would happen when they met again? He had shown his interest in her… 

Evening came eventually, it was both too fast and an arduous wait. Yuri had cleaned her awu'asa until it shone and the leather smelled rich and oily. She would not cower under Set's gaze despite what happened at his house. She was a female, she had done nothing wrong! 

Once she was donned in the armor she took the closest path to the pyramid. Half the clan members had already gathered in the great hall and a lot of representatives from other clans had turned up to witness the ceremony. The insides of the walls were made of black obsidian and the throne was gilded and surrounded by burning torches to illuminate the Empress' seat in the darkness. This was a place of tradition, no artificial lighting was allowed except for the ones from the fires and the skylights that were built to lead in the shine of Prime's moons. The three beacons fused their lights together into a shape resembling a triangle on the wall above the throne.

The grand hall was nearly full when the Council of Ancients appeared from a chamber inside the core of the pyramid. After them came Setg'in-yu'san and the Empress, she was a large female, a foot taller than Yuri, strength and grace flowed from her presence. They stopped in front of the crowd and the Elder councilman stepped forward and announced the leaders.

“Her Empress A'ket'anu'nrak'ytara Mei' A'ket'anu'agaj'ya.” The crowd lowered their heads in unison and prostrated in front of their leader, their vessel to Paya. “Setg'in-yu'san Mei' Hult'ah-setg'in, new leader of the Ki its-pa Thwei clan.” Set took a step forward and turned to face the Empress. She looked at him with her amber eyes and the Empress turned to another council member that was holding the folded black cloak in his hands. The Empress took the bundle from his hands and spread it out in front of the crowd. A low murmur of approval rippled through the mass of spectators and Yuri felt pride swelling in her chest. Set was a rightful leader, he would be good for the clan.

The Empress placed her hand on Set's shoulder and he bowed his head while she draped the fabric over his back and clasped the fastening around his neck. A high pitched screech came echoing from one of the tunnels, directing everyone's attention from the throne to the opening in the back. Soon a struggling r'ka with a gleaming, gray exoskeleton, and the distinct elongated head, appeared in the opening. It was restrained by several heavy chains made of an acid resistant alloy and was escorted by four guards armed with combisticks. A fifth guard walked ahead of them carrying a silver platter. The creature was drooling excessively, leaving a trail of clear mucus behind it as it was prodded forward by the guards. Its long tail was chained to its back to prevent it from attacking. This r’ka had spikes on its hips and the beginnings of a crest forming on the back of its head - a young queen. Yuri couldn’t help to gasp. This was a stately gift! 

They stopped at the edge of the platform and the councilman that had introduced the leaders approached the guard with the platter. He took it and moved to stand in front of Set as he lifted the lid. A dead facehugger with a ceremonial dagger was on the plate. The screeching r'ka provided background noise as Set cut a leg from the creature and walked up to the Empress and presented her with the digit.

The crowd stilled and watched as their ruler grabbed the limb and started to burn the symbol of the clan leader to Set’s crest. His skin sizzled and smoked but Set did not make a sound or flinch. The Empress marked his helmet with the same symbol and watched as he put it on. He was clad in his full awu'asa, an impressive sight to behold. The ceremony was quickly concluded. Setg'in-yu'san was handed the chains of the r'ka, a gift to him from the Empress herself. A queen kiande amedha was an exotic tribute. They were rare and a queen would only produce another if she wanted to start a second hive. There was no known way to force this to happen. Set jumped off the platform and cruised through the crowd, which was parting to create a passageway for him. The shrieking serpent rattling its chains as it followed behind him, snarling at his heels.

He passed Yuri, and despite him wearing his mask, his head turned briefly towards her before he left the pyramid. She decided to send him a message the next morning to see if he wanted to look at the whelps on the clan ship. Custom did not force her to offer him any tributes but it did not prevent it either.

  


* * *

  


She was back on the ship, feeding the hounds when he suddenly appeared. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him but when she saw the ooman following behind him, the fire that had begun to flare in her gut died and was replaced with nausea.

“We came to look at the litter,” Set stated matter-of-factly and looked at the hounds snarling and butting their heads against the grates of their cages. The beasts could smell the ooman and they were trained to bite through bone. Yuri stood up from her crouching position and led them inside the other room. She took the bitch from the large cage and placed her in a smaller one to keep her away from the shivering ooman. Her fear stunk up the place but the whelps were too young to react to it. They rushed forward as usual and began pawing at the newly arrived legs, whining and licking at them with their long, rough tongues.

The ooman asked Set a question and he nodded in response, whereupon she crouched and reached out her hand to pat the sniveling whelps. Her mouth cracked open wide and she made a shrill sound that hurt Yuri's head. She had to go out in the other room and expel the hiss that had been building up in her throat. Did he have to bring that pauk-de monkey with him? She stayed in the other room to avoid the smell until Set and the ooman came out. The ooman was clutching one of the whelps tightly to her chest when Set approached Yuri.

“Sara has chosen that one.” He pointed to the hound the ooman was carrying. _Wait! That was not what she had meant when she offered a hound to Set!_ A snarl got stuck in her throat as she stared at the two of them. Set looked pleased when he eyed the ooman and the whelp, it was the affectionate one, Yuri could recognize the female from the litter.

“A good choice,” was all she could say. _No, it was not!_ Set narrowed his eyes and peered at Yuri, making her hearts stop momentarily in her chest.

“I was hoping you could help Sara train her.” Set was still looking at her suspiciously.

She had to swallow down the lump in her throat before she could answer him. “Of course, master.” _Cjit!_ What had she agreed to? She would have to spend time with the ooman! Sara stretched her mouth again and the corners strained upwards, crinkling her fat cheeks. _Pauk!_


	3. Chapter 3

The first thing Yuri saw when she disembarked the scout ship was the crimson sun. It was pulsing rhythmically far too close to the planet, covering nearly a fifth of the sky. The entire dto was draped in its red glow, making the leaves on the trees look brownish and riddled with decay. Nracha-dte, the Elder that had chosen the location for the kv'var had assured them that the sun above the planet was stable. It would take eons for the supernova to transform the game planet into a place unable to sustain life. 

If there ever was any indigenous life on this planet, it had long been extinct. Yautja sensors had combed the surface of the entire planet and not found so much as a single insect. The lack of natural pollinators explained the uniformity of the plant life and there were no more than a couple of handfuls of different plant varieties growing on the surface, all of them relying on abiotic pollination.

To the Ki its-pa Thwei clan, the kv'var that was about to take place on this planet was renowned. It was arranged every other year and only the most skilled hunters were invited. Locations were chosen by the clan Elders and rotated, together with what type of prey would be available. It was always some form of r'ka, since nothing could compare to the challenge of hunting the kiande amedha. They were the most dangerous prey in the galaxy.

Yuri had always participated in the hunt when invited, not forfeiting a single event. The honour had been bestowed on her ever since she had become the kennel mistress of the clan. This was nearly 70 solar cycles ago. Females rarely kv'var'd, and on Elite hunts such as this it was even more unusual. The ones that did it were however exceptional, and they lived and breathed the hunt. Yuri had her suspicions that at least some of the males were hunting only to secure trophies for the heat season.

Which reminded her of another worm in her naxa; her estrus was coming early. It should have been another lunar cycle, but somehow, spending so much time with Set and the ooman must have scrambled her hormones. It was coming and it was coming at the worst possible time. She would be damned if she missed the Elite kv'var however. No matter how horrible she felt, or how everyone in the same room as her would practically be tasting her on the air. She would challenge the first s'yuit-de, idiot, that would dare look at her crossways, and if she smelt the tiniest particle of musk, she was taking a th'syra, skull. She _would_ not let it get in the way of the hunt. 

The hunters were arriving in small parties. Yuri had been alone on her scout ship to be able to make room for all the hounds. Set had asked her to bring at least 10 trackers, that were to be distributed among the hunters. The amount he asked for was surprising. They had never been more than 8-10 Elites on the kv'var. If this was another party-hunt they would not even need half the amount, so they must be planning for solo hunts. She had no objections to that, having less males in the way when she was hunting was better.

After a short perimeter check to make sure that the surroundings were safe, Yuri went back inside the ship to fetch her animals. These ones were highly trained. They were seasoned in tracking r'ka and were responsive to any yautja master. At the moment they were leashed which was more for their own benefit than Yuri's. When that particular leash was on, they could relax and only needed to keep up with their mistress, as opposed to when the tracking harness was on.

She checked her wrist gauntlet for the coordinates to their gathering spot in the dto. A map immediately appeared in the vision field inside her bio-mask. The scout ship had landed 2000 metras off, but it mattered little. She would not return to her ship unless it was with an r'ka skull. 

The canine unit, fronted by their trainer, arrived at the coordinates after a quick sprint through the thick dto. Most Elites had already arrived and were gathering around Set. There must have been at least 20 hunters congregating in the glade and more were coming from the jungle. Da'jeth, a large Arbitrator with black and white patterning that was usually very restrained, was speaking out heatedly.

“This is madness! We have always hunted with our own! This is not the time to build alliances,” the male grumbled and drove his spear into the ground. Agitated murmurs rose around them and several of the hunters agreed with the Arbitrator.

Set showed no reaction to his outburst. Instead he waited for the crowd to calm down before he gave his reply, “Hostile clans have been detected patrolling space in the immediate vicinity of Prime.” He paused, and looked each of the hunters in the eye before he continued, “There are only a few clans left on the planet and our numbers are dwindling. This is something Vor'mekta should have done long ago.” He made another pause to make sure everyone was still paying attention. “Ctei-Tjau'ke and Kan't'kwe-dte are neighboring clans with many honorable warriors. Hunting together with them will strengthen our liaisons. This is what the Elders have decided. It is final.” His eyes were glowing with determination, challenging anyone to speak against him and take the consequences or conform.

Da'jeth glared at his leader but stayed quiet, his only protest was to grab his spear a bit more forcefully than necessary. Not one of the other hunters could argue with Set's logic. _Pauk_ , so this was to be a party-hunt after all? Kan't'kwe-dte she could stand, but Ctei-Tjau'ke ze'pha-heads?

The Elder named Nracha-dte stepped forth from the back of the crowd and climbed a stone to stand above the hunters. His gray dreads reached his shoulders and he was wearing his full body-armor, but without the bio-mask. “Tonight when all hunters have arrived we will have a lottery. This will be a party-hunt with teams from mixed clans. Chance will decide the setup of the teams. There will be no exceptions to this.” He jumped down with a thud and joined Set at the side of the group. The hunters dispersed and left Yuri alone with the hounds and the clan Elders.

Set greeted Yuri and motioned for her to bring the hounds to a pen they had built near the glade. Nracha-dte closed the gate after the last canine had entered and gave Yuri a quick nod before he started to give her the directives for the kv'var. “We have made plans for 10-11 groups. Since you have brought 12 hounds and we are expecting some of the hunters to bring their own trackers, we could probably supply each group with two trackers.”

Set was already on his way back to his ship and Yuri had to run to catch up with him. The Elder stayed with the hounds and tilted his head to the side when he watched them leave. “Seems like estrus came early,” he murmured under his breath and chortled.

“Even if we do the lottery, could I at least be paired up with you on the kv'var?” Yuri inquired and gave Set a side glance as she caught up with him. 

He slowed down his walk and looked back at her with an examining look. “I won't be joining the kv'var.”

The shock of what he said hit Yuri like a bag of rocks. _What?!_ As far as she knew, Set was as serious about hunting as she was, especially when it came to r'ka. She had been hoping since she had heard Set was finally coming on an Elite kv’var that they could have hunted together… 

They arrived at Set's ship and he stopped and gave Yuri another curious look. “Sara is with me,” he explained with a chirp.

Yuri felt her stomach drop in response. _Why_ could he not just have left the ooman on Prime or on the clan ship? This hunt was supposed to bring her and Set _together!_ Now he was claiming that he would not be joining the hunt? 

“Come in,” Set said after a long moment of silence, she had stopped and froze. “Sara would like to see you before the hunt.” He touched his gauntlet and the door to the ship whooshed open. He climbed inside and put his hand on the sensor to keep the door open for Yuri. She took a deep breath to calm herself and shook her head vigorously to get her blood flowing again before she followed him inside. 

The first one to greet her and Set was the young whelp Sara had named 'Ruth'. It was named after a female the ooman looked up to but Yuri could not remember why. Her ooman language skills were still a bit fractured despite Set having uploaded most of his dictionary to her bio-mask just so she could speak with Sara. The young hound had developed all the wrong traits in the ooman's care even though Yuri had helped with the training almost daily for the past two lunar cycles. It was constantly seeking attention and affection and Sara did nothing to discourage it. She was reinforcing it.

“Hello Yuri!” Sara's chipper voice rang inside the cargo hold and _Ruth_ began to run joyfully back and forth between the ooman and Yuri.

Yuri made a greeting gesture half-heartedly. She was already mentally exhausted. She had barely landed on the game planet and all her plans were already thwarted. She would not have any alone time with Set and the mere thought of another week wasted here made her feel in great detail how the egg forming on her ovaries already had begun to wilt. It would take another two years until another chance like this was coming.

“I got something for you!” Sara's face brightened even more, _how was it even possible?_ She hurried to the other side of the room and began to rummage through a storage box until she produced a thing wrapped in cloth. “This is for you," she beamed at Yuri, "I was told hunters sometimes were given good-luck charms by their friends before a big hunt.” She handed the parcel over to a stunned Yuri. The gift was long and weighed next to nothing when Yuri twisted and turned it in her hands. 

Inside the layers of cloth, Yuri unwrapped a thin stake of graphite, similar to the pieces of charcoal the ooman used when she was doodling on her papers. An odd gift from an odd female. Yuri played a desperate sounding “Thank you!” from her helmet. A recording from an ooman female that had been spared due to her pregnancy a long time ago.

“You're welcome!” Sara beamed and she made that happy-grimace Yuri had been accustomed to. Set was looking at her and Yuri had to seem grateful to not look suspicious. It was a mortal insult to refuse a gift in yautja culture. She stashed the gift in her belt-pouch and nodded towards the ooman.

“We will meet again later when all hunters have arrived.” Set was giving Yuri a look that meant they were done here. Not that Yuri wanted to stay. She had choked enough on the smell of mating that always surrounded the couple. It was disgusting, putrid even.

The sight that greeted her when she left their ship was even worse. It seemed this was to be the hunt where all her nightmares came true.  
“Hamstring!” The _short_ , green male smirked and rolled his combistick over his shoulder and pointed it at Yuri before he sheathed it back inside his harness. It was just her luck that the s'yuit-de Ctei-za and his silent shadow, the dark skinned Guan-kantra would show up!

“I'm surprised you're still alive, _Knee-high_ ,” Yuri hissed at the insolent pauk-de. Did he just have the nerve to point his weapon at her? He was a breath away from losing his spine, if he so much as glanced her way, she was challenging him.

The two males looked at each other and snickered before they continued to walk towards the congregation of other Ctei-Tjau'ke members at the south part of the glade where the Elders had announced the alliance. The midget was not worth the time it would take to beat his ass. Yuri made way towards her own clan members at the north side of the glade. Da'jeth was in a conversation with what looked like a young female.

“This is Taudtui,” he introduced the green and olive colored female to Yuri when she had joined their group. Yuri made a short nod and gave her own name. How old was this new female? She looked barely blooded!

Taudtui nodded back, and her dark, long tresses billowed. “I've heard much about you," she clicked at Yuri, "I look forward to working with your hounds.”

Yuri puffed up a little. So this female had heard about her and her hounds? That seemed about right. Her trophy wall was something to be proud of and it did not surprise Yuri that word of her had traveled outside the clan ship. She was a formidable huntress.

“Taudtui is a promising huntress, young for an Elite,” Da'jeth's dark voice boomed as he watched Yuri study the newcomer. Taudtui puffed up at the praise and purred.

"It is not so hard to do," she growled, "if one knows what they are doing."

Da'jeth chuckled and purred at the olive female. "Careful, female, I hear a challenge."

Taudtui snorted and eyed Da'jeth up and down before she glanced towards Yuri and addressed her. "He thinks highly of himself, does he not?"

Yuri chuckled as Da'jeth narrowed his white eyes at Taudtui. "I do," he peered at her, "A queen graces my wall, female."

Taudtui shrugged. "One graces my wall as well, male."

Da'jeth turned his attention towards Yuri who held up her hands in defence. “Don't look at me, I am just the kennel mistress!" She snickered and turned on her heels, "Speaking of which, I need to check on the hounds,” Yuri growled and marched away from the group. 

The hounds barked and yipped when they saw Yuri approach. The sentry the Elder had appointed to keep an eye on the beasts was happy to be relieved of his duty when Yuri chased him away. It must be the estrus that made her mood unusually foul. She sat down, squatting at the side of the fence while her mind tried to come up with a way to get Set to herself. She should have anticipated that he would take Sara with him. He always took her with him. Perhaps it was a good thing? If only she could somehow make Sara have an accident... Open the door to the ship and let in an r'ka... or touch a poisonous plant... Wait. What was she thinking? This was not like her. Hurting Sara deliberately would strip her of all honor... Even if no one found out... She would know. She would make herself a bad blood. This had to stop! _Stop. Stop. STOP!_ She shouted a wordless scream in anger and threw a rock into the dto.

Eventually all the invited hunters had arrived and it was time to gather for the lottery. A horn sounded, signaling them to return to the glade.

Yuri put leashes on the hounds and brought them to the gathering spot. The hunters were scattered into groups of their own clans as they watched the three clan leaders line up at the front of the crowd. She gave the leashes to one of the overseers and joined her clan.

”This lottery will be carried out in the following manner,” the leader of the Kan't'kwe-dte clan explained while holding out a skin bag. “Each of you will approach your leader and pick a random stone," he lifted the bag, "The color of the stone will decide which party you will join and who your hunt siblings will be.”

 _Pauk!_ This was really happening. Yuri hoped she would pick the same stone as Da'jeth or one of the more experienced Elites. She approached Set with trepidation when it was her turn to choose. Her hearts were hammering in her chest when she dipped her paw into the bag and fingered the remaining stones. Please...Paya! She decided on one and pulled out her hand swiftly – jade. Who else had a jade stone? Da'jeth's was chalk, so he was out.

The crowd around her was murmuring and the remaining hunters chose their stones. The clan leaders announced where each color was to gather and pointed in different directions. “Jade,” Set proclaimed and pointed to a spot to Yuri's left. She stepped into the spot where he had pointed and was joined by Nrak'ytara, the Elder Arbitrator from her clan – _Sei-i!_. Two hunters from Kan't'kwe-dte soon came to stand next to them, a male and a female. Then... H'ko! The midget and his mute friend approached. Ctei-za smirked up at her and cracked his knuckles.

“Show me your stone Knee-high,” Yuri demanded. When he triumphantly waved it in front of her she cursed inwardly. They must have cheated. How come they had chosen the same color, and ended up in her party. H'ko! She would rather have teamed up with an ooman!

The horn sounded again to gather the attention of the hunters. The leader of Ctei-Tjau'ke spoke, ”Now that you have been divided into teams we will send you coordinates to your bio-masks. Each team has been allotted a section of the planet. Inside this section your prey has been planted. Each team has a different form of r'ka. You will need to track your prey and learn its habits and weaknesses.”

“Only ONE r'ka for six hunters!” A dark brown and cream speckled male protested. “We thought we would get trophies for the mating season on this kv'var!” Other agitated voices joined his until Set raised his hand to quiet them down.

“The killer will take the th'syra they deserve. It is as it has always been.” Set's dark voice gave Yuri chills along her spine. His eyes were burning into the male that had spoken up. “You will need to cooperate to take down these hard meats. They are no ordinary r'kas.”

An Elder from the Ctei-Tjau'ke clan stepped forth and planted himself between Set and the other male. “These modified r'kas you have planted are too dangerous. You will bring death upon our hunters!”

The leader of Ctei-Tjau'ke put a hand on the Elder's shoulder and shoved him to the side. “That is enough P'kya'uha. I will not hear more of your nonsense. I thought I'd made myself clear when I invited you to be an overseer, if it doesn't suit you, you are welcome to leave the kv'var.” He shifted his gaze from the Elder to the rest of the hunters. “That applies to the rest of you as well. You will learn to work together or lose your status.”

The hunters became quiet and looked at each other, searching for anyone that dared oppose. There had been too many almost-challenges already. The next one speaking against the leaders would probably find themselves losing their skull in a duel.

The overseer that held the hounds began to distribute the leashes to the groups. The jade team received two trackers from Yuri's stock.

“Let's move to my ship,” Nrak'ytara said as their bio-masks chimed when the coordinates were sent to their helmets.

“I'm looking forward to this hunt, Hamstring,” Ctei-za purred from somewhere on the ground. Yuri snorted and took point as the party began to walk towards Nrak'ytara's ship.


	4. Chapter 4

The coordinates to their designated hunting zone had led them to a place on the southern hemisphere of the planet. It was still sunny outside, due to the fact that the planet rotated very slowly around its axis. A cycle here lasted more than five Prime cycles, but was compensated by a lower, more even temperature. Luckily they had their thermal nettings and were not bothered by the relative chill.

Nrak'ytara took them down smoothly and cloaked the ship once the party had disembarked. Yuri proceeded to put the harness on her hounds, readying them for tracking. These canines were trained enough to work without lines, and they waited eagerly for their mistress to sound the whistle.

The r'ka had been fitted with tracking chips prior to release, but only the overseers could follow their movements and they were instructed not to interfere with the hunt. Yuri's hounds played an important role in the party; they could discover trails, far surpassing the range of the bio-mask’s life detection sensors.

“Let us celebrate the beginning of the hunt, shall we?” Ctei-za took off his mask and produced a waterskin from his pack. The short male took a deep pull of its contents before handing it to Guan-kantra. The waterskin was passed between the hunters until it came to Nrak'ytara who sent it forward without drinking. Yuri swatted it away and frowned at the midget. “Are you completely hulij-bpe! Do you want to get drunk when we are about to hunt r'ka!”

Ctei-za glared back at her and flared his mandibles while he countered, “If you cannot hold your liquor from a taste of c'ntlip I am happy you abstained!”

Yuri clenched her paw tightly at her side. He was one word away from finding himself the recipient of her fist to his mandible. She would rip a tusk from his ugly face and wear it as a necklace. The bones in her fingers cracked when Nrak-ytara intervened by placing a paw on her shoulder. “Save it for the r'ka.” His calm voice made Yuri loosen her digits and huff. _Not. Worth. It._

The midget’s sidekick, Guan-kantra, clicked a silent apology and shrugged as Yuri turned on her heels and stalked back to her hounds. This kv'var could not get any worse… She had hunted on a previous occasion with both Guan-kantra and Ctei-za as part of a planet-wide ceremony to commemorate the Empress' thousand solar cycles of reign. They had been completely hulij-bpe, taking unnecessary risks as they boasted of their superior skills. Ctei-za had been drunk enough that he had nearly speared Guan-kantra's arm with a badly aimed combistick throw that had been meant for a tusked carnivore. He had hit the beast, but the spear had gone clean through, almost maiming his fellow hunter. The kv’var had been a nightmare. This not even considering the constant filthy comments that had kept coming from Ctei-za, evidently his idea of courting her. She chuffed to herself at the thought. He had been an ass. As if she would _ever_ consider mating with a pauk-de midget! His trophy wall was pathetically lacking in comparison to hers.

And he was _short_ , not only to Yuri's almost 9'. He barely rose above the apex of her stomach. His dreads were also undersized, not even reaching his shoulders and his coloring was a joke. He reminded Yuri of a hot, muggy swamp, with his unflattering brown and green blend. She knew his hunting skill could not be as bad as she was remembering, he was an Elite, but Yuri had only seen Ctei-za's hunt drunk, making a fool out of himself. He was probably living off old merits. His friend Guan-kantra was not much better if she had to admit it. He was taller, but not above average height and his dark coloring would have been beautiful if it was not for the fact that he was a mute and never stood up for himself or anyone else. A weak male in her opinion.

“You arm yourself lightly, Arbitrator,” the Kan't'kwe-dte clan male, N'ithya, asserted with his deep voice while he turned towards Nrak-ytara and contemplated his weaponry, or lack thereof.

The senior Arbitrator grunted and drew his ceremonial dagger from the sheath that was fastened to his belt, the blade glinted dangerously. “I have no need for weapons other than this," he did not turn to look at the other male, "It is better to be proficient in one weapon, than mediocre in many.” Without warning he suddenly raised his knife and sent it flying past N'ithya's shoulder, almost ripping a laceration onto the younger male's pauldron. The knife burrowed into the trunk of a tree fifteen metras away.

The bulky, dark blue male flinched as the blade shot past him. “Watch it, relic!”

Kiloun-j'pi chuckled and raised her hands in the air as she got glares from her partner. “At this rate we will have killed each other off before we even encounter the r'ka,” she laughed and put a paw on N'ithya's shoulder as the male scowled at the Arbitrator.

Nrak'ytara walked off and pulled the dagger from the tree. The branch he had severed dropped to the ground with a rustling sound as it hit the leaves of the bushes beneath. He sheathed his blade and joined Yuri amidst the hounds. “Are they ready?” He looked at the trackers.

“Yes, they are always ready.” Yuri put the whistle between her teeth and blew the signal. The hounds shot off in wide zigzag patterns with their noses lowered to the ground.

The party followed the animals into the dto. The spikes on their backs were flared in anticipation as they combed the jungle floor for scent particles. Yuri purred to herself as her hounds did as they were trained.

Yuri could see a representation of the terrain in her bio-mask. This dto stretched over an area the size of a thousand cities. There was a deep ravine to the west that separated the jungle into two parts. A river was flowing on the bottom of it. Her mask showed no alerts of dangerous prey in the vicinity. The information was validated by the sounds around her, the only noise she could hear was the soft patter of the hounds' paws and the almost inaudible trot of her fellow hunters.

They were moving through the bush systematically, intending to cover every square centa of the dto. Kiloun-j'pi and N'ithya had taken the lead, followed by Yuri, Guan-kantra and Ctei-za. Nrak'ytara was covering their backs. It wasn't long before the Arbitrator grabbed the nearest tree, cloaked himself and climbed high. They could still see him with their masks, following the party by jumping tree to tree. 

The hounds ran forward and doubled back from time to time, making sure Yuri was nearby. These hounds were not bred for fighting r'ka, even though they could defend themselves and their handlers if necessary. Ctei-za followed the Arbitrator up, also engaging his cloaking as he did so.

They reached the ravine and followed it south for a few thousand metras before the front pair halted and made the entire party stop in their tracks.

“Should we try to get to the other side?” N'ithya was looking at Nrak'ytara as the large blue and white yautja jumped down from the trees and landed in their midst, his cloaking disengaging. The senior Arbitrator had become their natural leader on this hunt.

“Let us finish the sweep on this side first to be thorough,” Nrak'ytara replied and the younger hunter nodded and continued to move along the edge of the ravine.

They followed it until their masks alerted them that they were nearing the edge of the dto. The river at the bottom of the gorge had widened into a swampy delta that ended in the sea. The water was glowing in flaming orange and red, mirroring the blazing sky above.

Nrak'ytara looked over the ledge at the swampland below them. ”We should move back a few hundred metras to where the river is more narrow before we cross it.”

The party turned back until they reached a part of the canyon that looked stable, the packed dirt on the slope below had solidified into shale. Nrak'ytara unfastened the coiled rope hanging on his belt and tied the end around a large tree inside the jungle, after making sure it was healthy and strong enough to withstand the massive weight of a hunter. He did not bother to make himself a harness, the bottom of the canyon was only two hundred metras down from where they stood. He threw the rope over the ledge and grabbed it with his hands, once he was over it he climbed cautiously down using the side of the cliff to support his legs.

Yuri called in the hounds, they trotted around her before she motioned for Guan-kantra to come forward. The black and grey yautja said nothing as she tied the large canine to his back. She almost voluntold Ctei-za but she did not want to hurt her hound, the fool was too weak to carry her animal.

She crouched and tapped her shoulder. The tracker responded accordingly and raised its front paws to her shoulders. Yuri systematically tied her hound to her back, N'ithya aided with the placement of the rope. It wasn't long before it was her turn to climb down into the looming ravine, she was followed by N'ithya, Kiloun-j'pi, Ctei-za, who had rejoined the group, and lastly, Guan-kantra with the second canine. The hunters crossed the cold river, which thankfully only reached just above their knees, except on Ctei-za, who cursed and whined worse than a whelp. 

“Someone needs to climb the cliff and fasten another rope for the rest,” Nrak'ytara explained and held out a bundle of rope.

Guan-kantra stepped forward, Yuri was quick to remove the hound from his back. He took the offered cord and fastened it to his belt before he looked up and examined the cliff. The dark male rubbed his paws together, before he jumped and latched onto the rock with his bare paws, ten metras from the ground. Gravel and dust rolled down the side of the ravine as he started climbing resolutely, the muscles in his arms and thighs bulged and flexed in a way that drew Yuri's eyes. She tried to focus on the shelf at the top of the canyon, but his silence and agility made it impossible to not stare at _him_. He flung over the edge and soon the end of the rope slipped down and dangled in front of the party.

Yuri helped him hoist the canines and started to climb the rope while the rest of the hunters waited below. She could see Guan-kantra leaning over the edge, looking at her as she pulled herself up, paw by paw. She was almost at the top when her vision started to blur. The augmented field of vision in her bio-mask flickered and then everything became pitch black. _What!_ Yuri almost lost her grip on the rope as she, for a few heartbeats, was certain that she had gone blind. A foot against the ragged wall was what saved her as she scrambled to get back her bearings, pebbles and rocks tumbled down the cliff, she could hear them bouncing against the ground. A growl below her made her come back to her senses.

“My bio-mask stopped working!” It was Kiloun-j'pi, she lifted her moss green arms to her head and unhooked the visor from her face. The other hunters followed suit, clicking in agreement. Yuri braced her feet against the cliff as she released a hand from the rope and removed her mask, attaching it to her hip. She could see. The mask had never malfunctioned before - _never!_

The party continued to ascend the cliff one at a time and assembled on the ledge with Guan-kantra and the hounds. “What the pauk happened?” N'ithya growled and gave Nrak'ytara an accusing look. “All our bio-masks stopped working simultaneously!”

Nrak'ytara shot his blue paw up in the air to signal them all to be quiet. “Silence," he chirped, "Without our bio-masks the r'ka will have the element of surprise,” he clicked and collected his rope, while he looked at the dto his paw moved to encase the hilt of his dagger. “We need to continue. Follow me.” He stepped into the jungle and the rest followed him in complete silence. 

Yuri was unsure if dusk was creeping on them or if it was the strangeness of hunting without her bio-mask, but the dto was glowing in an ominous crimson tinge as they moved through the undergrowth. They had yet to find any r'ka tracks and the loss of their enhanced vision was making the hunters irritable. A cold chill rippled through her entire body. Was she… was she… _afraid?_ Was this what fear felt like? The clammy paws of the Black Hunter that had grabbed all her limbs refused to let go, freezing her blood… her eyes widened suddenly as it dawned on her... She was not afraid, she was _cold_. Yuri felt like she had been running half-naked through a tundra. The realization made her stop dead in her tracks. The others noticed, and glanced back towards her. 

“Are your thermal nettings working?” She already knew the answer, but asked anyways, she needed to hear it. 

Nrak'ytara grunted, "I noticed when our masks faltered."

Ctei-za unhooked his combistick from the harness and took a swing in the air, holding the retracted handle. “Cjit!” He replaced it on his back and tried to activate his wrist blades – _nothing_. He went through his plasma caster, smart discs, plasma pistols, he even tried to arm one of his mines. Every single piece malfunctioned, and the curses he wove on his breath sprinkled all around him like putrid thwei. It was the same for everyone. The only weapons that were of any use were their ceremonial daggers and Guan-kantra's axe.

Kiloun-j'pi faced Nrak-ytara. “Should we abort?” The moss green female clicked her mandibles and lowered her eyes, she did not want the Arbitrator to see that they were dulled with disappointment.

“The ship is likely as unresponsive as our weapons," he theorized, and then continued, "For me, this does not change anything,” He made an attempt to look the female in the eye and he purred soothingly as he added, “but if you do not feel proficient enough to hunt r'ka without technology, I will conform with the group's decision.”

There was a heavy silence following his words. Not one of the hunters felt like giving up. They still had their blades and their training. They were Elites, not unblooded youths that feared the Black hunter! 

N'ithya shrugged and put away his useless plasma scythe. “Maybe this is part of the hunt? To make it more challenging?” He took out his ceremonial dagger and inspected it in the crimson reflection of the supernova.

Nrak'ytara gave him a stern look and returned focus on the surroundings. “No, I know Setg'in-yu'san. He would not do something like this without warning," the striking blue eyes of the Arbitrator narrowed in thought, "This was caused by a natural phenomenon.”

“What do you mean?” N'ithya tightened the grip on his blade.

“An electromagnetic disturbance in the planet's core," Nrak'ytara said deliberately, "or maybe temporary solar flares from that smoldering wheel above our heads, causing electromagnetic pulses? ...It could even be an attack from one of the clans that are threatening Prime.”

“They said this planet was safe,” Kiloun-j'pi growled, and folded her arms over her chest.

“Whatever it is, it was not something picked up while the Elders scouted the planet,” Yuri interfered and tried not to shiver from the cold. She was accustomed to wear her netting and the loss of it made her quite uncomfortable.

“Whatever it is, I am going to kill the r'ka,” Ctei-za took a swig from his waterskin and gobbled down several mouthfuls of liquor.

“That is probably the most s'yuit-de thing you can do, Knee-high,” Yuri hissed and narrowed her eyes at him.

“C'ntlip keeps me focused,” Ctei-za shrugged and took another sip, followed by an exaggerated sigh.

Yuri flared her mandibles at the big-mouthed munchkin, but she did not want to waste energy on him. If he wanted to kill himself, none would be happier than her, as long as he stayed out of her way and didn't bring anyone else with him.

The party rearmed themselves and moved at a leisurely sprint through the dto. The hounds had not yet come across any tracks, but from what they remembered of the map, there was still a large area of unexplored jungle to cover. Keeping their bodies in constant movement also helped chase away the chill.

Eventually they had to stop and fill their energy reserves. Since this was a planet with no wild animals, they had packed strips of dried meat that was supposed to last them several cycles and considering they had no idea how long the EMP would disrupt their technology, the party decided to conserve on their rations and rest before they continued the search.

They took turns keeping watch since the hounds needed to rest as well. Ctei-za was leaning against a tree, nursing his waterskin and refusing to sleep. The rest of the group decided to cut him out from lookup duty and devised a schedule where Guan-kantra would take first watch, followed by Yuri. She sat down on the ground, next to the hounds, and closed her eyes but sleep eluded her. The faintest sound of leaves rustling or branches snapping in the wind, kept her lucid. She could hear N'ithya's heavy, even breaths, as he dozed off, curled together with his clan-sister. Yuri sat with her legs crossed and meditated, keeping her nose and ear to her surroundings. She had no idea for how long she was at it before she heard footsteps coming in her direction. The footfalls stopped just shy of an arm’s length from where she was sat, she opened one eye and peered at the male in front of her.

Guan-kantra said nothing as he stared at her with his golden eyes. For the Ctei-Tjau'ke male, wasting his breath on even the shortest words, seemed to cost him more than a d'lex chest plate. 

“Is it my turn?” Yuri questioned, she did not wait for his reply as she stood up and towered over the dark-skinned male. She noticed the quills on his crest stood on end and Yuri caught herself wondering if he was as cold as she was, if so, maybe they could curl up together like the Kan't'kwe-dte hunters... The way he took initiative with the hounds and climbing earlier had made him somewhat attractive to her. He was still a s'yuit-de of course, but perhaps there was more to him than she had assumed.

The male nodded in affirmation and withdrew to a spot on the edge of the camp. Perhaps Yuri could explore if he had other qualities later, but her duties had to come first. She started to patrol stealthily and took care to circle around the entire camp. What Nrak-ytara had said earlier refused to leave her head, what if this was staged by enemies to the clan? The yautja had the technology to mimic a pulse like that. It might not have been as far-fetched as it sounded.

A noise in the bushes to her right made her whip her head towards the sound and unsheathe her ceremonial dagger. Her eyes searched the thick foliage and she held her breath as she steeled herself for an attack. _Fluid dripping..._ Could it be a salivating r'ka? She sneaked towards the noise and when she was right behind it, she took a leap through the shrubbery with her dagger lifted and prepared to attack.

Her assault stopped mid-air and she hit the ground with a thud as she came pelvis to eye with a surprised Ctei-za. He had turned half-way towards her when she came crashing through the bushes, holding his ze'pha in his hand. The drizzling halted abruptly as he was disrupted, mid-urination. His eyes widened and Yuri cursed and averted her eyes as if they had been burned. This was a sight she wanted to erase from her memory for good!

“Hamstring.” Ctei-za slurred while tucking himself away behind his loincloth.

“Pauk-off!” Yuri made a move to walk past him, but he quickly blocked her path.

“I can, but I would not want to do it alone,” the s'yuit-de clicked and made a rolling motion with his hips that made Yuri retch. There it was… the filth she remembered… she rolled her eyes.

“I am not interested, Knee-high. Ask again when you are fully grown,” she growled, her lower mandibles flaring aggressively at him.

“I am the perfect height to suck on your teats while I pauk you,” the male countered and took a swig from his waterskin. His feet wobbled a bit and his face broke out in a smug expression when he finally found his balance again.

“Try that midget, and I will rip out your gonads and feed them to my hounds,” Yuri hissed and squeezed her fist in front of his face. The s'yuit-de chuckled and Yuri allowed her clenched paw to follow its natural inclination, she drove a punch straight into his smirking face with enough force to kick him back several metras. His mandibles made a crunching sound as her paw connected with his face and bright green thwei splattered up to his forehead. Ctei-za grunted and lifted his paws to cover his face. A mad cackle burst forth from his mouth that made the blood spatter all around him. He was sitting on his ass, with a cracked mandible, bleeding profusely - and was _laughing._

What an annoying insect! She did not have time for this! Every moment she wasted bickering with the midget, was a moment the r'ka could use to kill them all!

This time he made no attempt to block her way as she moved past him. She wiped most of the blood from her paw against some leaves and continued patrolling the perimeter. When she had circled back to camp it was time to switch shift with Nrak-ytara. The Arbitrator raised his brow when he saw her blood spattered paw, but said nothing. He disappeared into the bushes as Yuri returned to her resting spot, she would need a great deal of meditation to wipe Ctei-za's shenanigans from her mind.


	5. Chapter 5

It was the scent of living flesh that had drawn them from their nest. The urge to feed was only surpassed by the urge to procreate. This place they had been dropped off to was barren - _lifeless_. They could not find the hum of the mother. No scent, no call. The voices were distant, the screams in their mind abnormal in pitch. This was _different_. They had called out to the hivemind, seeking reinforcements. What had come had not been worthy though, but its body had been expropriated.

There was no meat to feed on, until the air had been enriched with the spicy scent of live prey. They had kept themselves out of reach from the sniffing beasts, following the movements of the group and waiting for the right moment to attack. There was strength in numbers, they knew this well. 

Silence frightened them. They were always surrounded by voices, sounds of siblings, of mother. They had to focus on the hunt, procuring food and meat to create siblings, _to create mother_. The group had stopped, and _separated_. Scuttling along the ground they followed one of them. They would intercept the food.

The prey moved to the trees. They followed stealthily, climbing with blinding speed up the trunk of a large tree. Flattened against the bark they waited, as the food's head whipped around in their direction. He clicked, and metal scraped but he did not detect their presence. This one was watchful, but they were the better hunter. The prey moved silently, jumping and landing without making a single sound. He scanned religiously but it was in vain.

They swooped down from the canopy of the trees, with unsurpassed speed, lunging on the prey that was crouched on a branch. Their razor sharp claws sank into his back, their tail whipped about, slicing the flesh. Saliva leaked profusely as the scent of blood filled their senses, dripping spit and slime over their slick, black chin. Even though injured, the prey was still soundless, he turned quickly and lashed out with his detachable metal-claw. 

They hissed in anger as the blow barely missed their throat, black lips curled, and they tried to sink their teeth into the prey’s meaty shoulder but found metal instead. Their sharp claws flexed into the thick hide just over the loincloth skirt. His blade came up and sliced along the side of their long head, acid dribbled on the metal plate he wore and spilled on the branch they were standing on but the armor was still perfectly intact. The food was wearing some resistant scales. The weakened branch creaked and snapped, making them both tumble to the ground in a jumbled heap. They hit every tree limb on the way down, struggling all the while. 

They scratched with their claws furiously while the hunter did the same, slicing up another gash into their upper torso, more yellowy blood oozed. The pain was infuriating, but hunger drove them on. They screeched, the inner mouth shot out and they got a taste of sweet flesh as their mouth connected with an arm. The prey grunted but managed to hurl them off of him, sending them flying into the jungle. They were back on their feet immediately, their tail shot forward. A menacing growl came from the food as he deflected with his blade and tried to amputate its thagomizer. They evaded the blow in the nick of time.

The food was faster than expected, dodging every attempt to do him more harm. They could not get close as long as he was holding the wicked metal-claw in his paw. It had to be removed. They screeched and spit acid at the limb. The prey bounced back, dodging completely and grabbed their tail in a swift counterattack. Talons furrowed the ground as they were pulled backwards roughly. A savage snarl close to their head had them slash out instinctively with their claws. Delicious blood spiked the air. 

They shrieked in pain as their body was slammed against a tree with enough force to shatter the bark and crack the exoskeleton. Acid sprayed, the food released their tail with a growl, his sharp blade raised high. They sent out a shrill mental shriek, trying desperately to call for reinforcements. They had to move! _They had to move!_

A soft coo fluttered along the edges of their mind, easing their thoughts, calming their turmoil for all but a second, but it was _enough_. Time slowed around them as their heart pumped into overdrive. Adrenaline fueled their muscles and they moved, faster than the food could comprehend. They lurched up the tree like a leaping arachnid, sending bark flying with their claws. They scuttled all the way up, over the canopy and out of sight of the prey. They would come in from another angle, hard, fast and _unexpected_. They fanned their large, leathery wings as they splinted and took to the sky. Black hair arced wildly around the food as he was looking in all directions, except the one that mattered. 

_Up._

Leather rustled on the wind, a faint sound, but heard by the food. He stilled beneath, and glanced up just as they landed on him. There was a look of shock on his face and his mandibles spread wide as he roared loudly. Their faces were almost touching. They trembled violently with adrenaline, lips pulling back, exposing pearlescent white teeth before they launched the inner jaw out.

The food pushed on their chest with both paws and they missed, teeth clamping shut on air. They lowered their head and took a chunk from the exposed abdomen, eliciting a growl of rage from the still living meat. He snarled and shoved them off with enough force to send them flying. They twisted in the air and landed on their claws, against a tree.

The prey roared loudly, alerting any and all in his victory crow. He spread his large arms wide, clutching his metal-claw in one hand, and gave his head a shake. 

The food would draw the others with his call for reinforcements. If there was to be any meat, he had to be killed _now_ , there was strength in numbers. They launched their powerful back legs against the bark and propelled themselves back onto the bleeding prey, chest to chest.

The tail raised up and curled behind the food as he raised his blade for the final blow. The crimson rays of the sun made the edge gleam red as it descended towards their heart. In the same instant the tail shot forward and pierced through his chest from the back. They hissed a low sound, while the food dropped his blade and coughed. A jet of bright green blood sprayed from his mouth. The fluid dripped hotly onto and in between the spikes of their chitin-covered tail. It was glorious. They sunk their talons in the tender flesh. 

The hearts were already slowing, the prey refused to acknowledge his death. The cavity in his chest was sawed open larger as the tail flickered and danced in the hole. The trauma caused by the thagomizer had the food gurgling blood in his lungs. They pulled out their serrated tail from the wound with a sloshing sound that was followed by the screech of bones being grated as the solid appendage moved against his spine. 

Too late they saw the food grab something hanging from his belt, a vial of liquid that he poured over his head. The cranium started to melt and disintegrate into a gooey sludge that almost tainted the talons gripping his flesh. They jumped back into a tree further away, and hissed savagely at the corpse as it fell to the jungle floor. The body decomposed into green jelly that in part sank into the ground, leaving just a few drops of the sweet smelling blood. There was no body matter to be harvested, no meat to be eaten. They screamed in frustration and spread their large wings wide, flapped them a few times to gain air under them and took off into the distance to lick their wounds.

_Still hungry._

  


* * *

  


“Yuri!” Kiloun-j'pi hissed near Yuri's ear-hole, making her wake up with a violent jerk. She must have fallen asleep somehow, even though she had deemed it unlikely to happen.

The large brown-beige mistress of the hounds yawned broadly, splaying her mandibles wide and growled under her breath as she eyed the smaller green female. “What!”

Kiloun-j'pi fixed her sand colored eyes on Yuri and lowered her voice to almost a whisper. “They are gone...”

“Who?” The meaning of the Kan't'kwe-dte female's words threw Yuri wide awake.

“Your Arbitrator and the Ctei-Tjau'ke hunters,” N'ithya rumbled. Yuri had not seen the dark blue male join them. “They have been gone at least three shifts.”

“Cjit!” Yuri whipped her head around and scanned the campsite for her hounds. Her hearts came down from her throat when she saw them lying on the ground under a large tree with long vines hanging down from the canopy, but it worried her that Nrak-ytara had not come back from his shift. He would not abandon the group. He did not seem like the type to just take off without warning, unless he felt his chances were better on his own, after all, Yuri did not know him well even though they came from the same clan. That the Ctei-Tjau'ke hunters had left the group did not surprise her as much.

She did not hear the footsteps until he was right behind her and the spicy scent of yautja gave him away. Yuri turned around and purred with relief, Guan-kantra. The black and gray male had not left them after all. Hopefully he knew where Nrak-ytara was.

Guan-kantra splayed his lower mandibles at her and spat, “What did you say to him!”

The harshness of his voice when he growled at her made her startle and she twisted her brow in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“Ctei-za,” he hissed and it was clear by the way he was breathing harshly that he was trying to keep his anger in check. “What did you say to Ctei-za when you were out on patrol?”

Yuri narrowed her eyes at him and tried not to bark back at the pauk-de male. Instead she replied calmly, “What did _I_ say to him?” She could not believe what she was hearing. “You should rather ask, what did _he_ say to me!”

“Ctei-za is gone. He would not leave without telling me!” Guan-kantra's voice took on a higher pitch that was very unflattering to listen to, Yuri was thankful she never suggested they could rest next to each other.

“I did nothing. He almost urinated on me! Did he tell you that?” Who did they think they were? Ctei-Tjau'ke s'yuit-des! Not only did the events from earlier come back into her memory in full detail, but Gua-kantra was blaming her for the entire incident? It was not like she had _wanted_ to see anything, or listen to his cjit _or, even kv'var with the pauk-de midget!_

“We need to find him,” Guan-kantra growled. “If your hounds are as good as you say they are, use them to track him.” The male pointed a claw at the hounds that were still resting underneath the tree.

“The hounds are trained to find r'ka, not annoying midgets!” Yuri protested and added with much annoyance, “If there is anyone we need to find, it is Nrak-ytara.”

“Stop fighting.” N'ithya who had stood by quietly and listened finally intervened. “We should be out looking for them instead of trying to bite each other's heads off.”

“Let us split up in teams and search the immediate area,” Kiloun-j'pi suggested. “They could not have gone far.”

Both Yuri and Guan-kantra nodded and swallowed their pride. They needed to learn to work together. It was after all the whole point with the mixed-clans kv'var Set had arranged.

The four hunters split into two teams. Kiloun-j'pi and N'ithya took one of the hounds and examined the north part of the camp and Guan-kantra, Yuri and the other hound searched the south side. They covered the dto meticulously, looking for signs of r'ka and the missing hunters. A thousand metras south-west of the camp Yuri's hound started to sniff the air more attentively and the huntress stopped and watched the animal with curiosity as it took off westward. The hunters followed the canine as they simultaneously kept their eyes on the surroundings. Guan-kantra climbed a tree and pursued the tracker from the canopies as Yuri followed on the ground.

The hound started to circle and sniff an area the size of a house, most likely coming close to the source of the scent. It barked eagerly to get Yuri's attention and stopped in front of a fallen branch. It whined when Yuri approached and she could see it even without her bio-mask, stains of fluorescent thwei on top of the wood and on the leaf covered ground on the other side. The branch looked damaged, splintering at the end. When she glanced up in the trees Guan-kantra was standing on a branch above her, inspecting one of the leaf-covered offshoots.

“There is thwei on these leaves.” He jumped down smoothly and showed it to Yuri, who pointed at the blood-spattered ground and branch.

“We cannot know from whom without our masks...” She growled and patted the hound's head, between the long antlers. “But this is yautja thwei.”

“I know.” Guan-kantra's shoulders slouched and he sighed deeply as he shook his dreads and climbed back up in the tree. “CTEI-ZA!!!” He shouted with his mandibles splayed wide.

Yuri cursed under her breath and her paw moved instantly to cup the sheath holding her ceremonial dagger. Did he want the r'ka to know where they where? _S'yuit-de._ She shook her head and started to search the surrounding area but there was no corpse and no more thwei to be found. Eventually they decided to go back and try to reunite with the Kan't'kwe-dte clan members. They climbed up a tree each and waited for the others to return.

  


* * *

  


Kiloun-j'pi and N'ithya had ventured far from the camp. It was unlikely neither of the missing hunters would have patrolled in this area. The hound that accompanied them had however picked up a trail and was now running with its nose close to the ground.

“We should probably head back and report to the others,” Kiloun-j'pi panted as they ran after the hound.

“Are you s'yuit-de?” N'ithya grumbled and jumped over a fallen tree, he did not slow down in the least. “This is our chance to take the trophy! Show them Kan't'kwe-dte is a clan worthy of respect.”

Kiloun-j'pi followed him closely but shook her head at the brash male. “The others will not be happy when they learn that we left them behind.”

“I do not care about them!” N'ithya glanced back at the female as he kept running after the hound, adding, “And I certainly do not care about this stupid alliance. I want that skull for the mating season!”

“Fine! But the skull will look better hanging on my trophy wall, male.” Kiloun-j'pi laughed and increased her speed, running past the dark blue male. When he saw her take pole position he growled, but the glee in his voice could not be mistaken for anything but pure happiness at the turn things had taken.

They stopped in front of a large cave. The hound was marking the entrance and refused to go further into the darkness. N'ithya motioned for Kiloun'j'pi to stand back as he unsheathed his ceremonial dagger and sniffed the air coming from the entrance.

“Smells rotten,” he clicked and stepped inside carefully. The moss green female was at his heels as they entered the cave with their daggers ready. It was not a deep cave, as they reached the burrow in less than ten metras. The stench became stronger the further in they went, until every last particle of air seemed tainted with it. Kiloun-j'pi suppressed a cough and held a paw over her mouth. The cavern that was stretched before them was filled with sticky and crystallized r'ka resin. On the cave floor a half-decomposed carcass of a large animal was rotting. It's lower body was missing, but what was left of it was easy to recognize.

“R'ka.” N'ithya hissed and kicked at the elongated head that was lying lifeless on the floor. It was easily the size of a hunter with two long tusks sprouting from its outer mouth. An r'ka from a tusked carnivore, a formidable prey that would have been nearly impossible to take down alone.

“What happened?” Kiloun-j'pi came forward and stopped at N'ithya's side.

The dark blue male shrugged and tilted his head to the side. “ _Something_ probably ate it.”

The female hissed. “This _something_ just got promoted to a prospective trophy.”

N'ithya clicked his mandibles in agreement. “We should wait outside until it comes back. Ambush it from the trees.” Kiloun-j’pi nodded and took lead out of the cave with the dark blue male following closely behind.

The hound was still waiting for them outside the entrance when the hunters exited the cave. Kiloun-j'pi gave N'ithya a knowing look and he knew exactly what she was thinking, “Perfect bait.” He unhooked the rope that was hanging from his belt and tossed it to the female. She squatted and clicked at the hound to draw it close and when it was nuzzling her paw she gripped the harness and tied the rope to it, the other end she tied to a tree near the entrance. The hound had still a good eight metras of leeway but he was now secured in front of the cave while the hunters climbed a tree each nearby.

The hound tried to follow Kiloun-j’pi but the leash put a stop to his advancements just as he reached her tree. The canine put his front paws to the base of the trunk and whined, but to no avail. Eventually he got tired of trying and spun around himself, tangling the long rope around his body as he settled down to lie on the ground with his heavy head resting on his front paws.

They waited in the trees for a long time. It was not unheard of for hunters to wait for cycles or weeks for prey to come around. They could have easily done just that, if it was not for a sound that made Kiloun-j'pi twist her head in the direction of N'ithya's tree. She could recognize the sound of a spine ripping from flesh with her eyes closed. Her senses peaked instantly and she rose just in time to see N’ithya’s large, dark blue body fall down to the ground. Her eyes snapped up to search the tree he had just fallen from, but she saw nothing. The hound barked furiously on the ground and was pawing at N'ithya's head- and spineless body. His open back was facing the sky in a mockery of trophy hunting.

The huntress pressed her back to the trunk of the large tree and stayed completely still while her eyes roamed the dto, searching for whatever had killed her clan-brother. Every sound, be it a sudden gust of wind that had leaves rustling, or a branch snapping underneath the trampling hound below, made her senses tingle and she held her dagger in front of her chest, ready to parry any incoming attacks. This was not how it was supposed to go down! They were hunters, _Elites!_ It should be her stalking in the bushes, waiting to attack the prey, skin it and claim the skull.

Whatever it was that killed her clan-brother, had probably also killed the Arbitrator and the midget, perhaps even Yuri and Guan-kantra. She may be the only huntress left alive to make a stand against this abomination, whatever it was. This trophy would be worth more than all her previous combined! In groups, Kiloun-j'pi often took a step back. She tried to hold off her more eager brothers and stop them from throwing themselves head-first into danger. Because of this, others often thought of her as anxious or less adept, but they could not be farther from the truth. She preferred to hunt alone, and in these situations she came to her own. If only she had been able to use her plasma pistol, this prey would not have stood a chance! The only weapon she could use now when all their technology malfunctioned was her ceremonial dagger, a weapon she had hardly used since her bloodening chiva. She should have maintained her training with it!

Swiftly and silently, she slipped down from the branch she was standing on and crouched low inside a thicket of large-leafy bushes. Not even the hound saw her climb down as she moved rapidly to the other side of the cave entrance. She needed to find a place where she could funnel the creature in and face it head on. Staying out in the open without cover for her back would have her facing the Black Hunter same as her clan-brother. She followed the side of the cave with her back pressed firmly against the rock, walking sideways to keep her front towards the open dto. When she reached the entrance she slipped inside, her back still against the wall and her eyes dashed between the entrance and the darkness further inside the cavern.

The pungent smell assaulted her odorant receptors but she kept moving, determined to find a good place to make a stand from. Even though the cave was shallow, the lack of sun made the air inside several degrees cooler, and Kiloun-j'pi had to clench her teeth hard to keep them from clattering. Her eyes scanned the ceiling and walls carefully as she reached the burrow to make sure that it was empty.

A loud yip from outside was cut-off abruptly and the huntress could not help but exhale in relief, she now knew exactly where the prey was. She stayed with her back against the wall at the left side of the entrance, ready to attack with her ceremonial dagger as the creature came inside for her. She was sucking oxygen down to her lungs, deep, steady huffs of air that sharpened her senses but also cooled down her body. Her paw was shaking slightly from the cold, she stood frozen and ready to attack for moments that stretched into eternities.

\---click--- ---click--- ---click---

The tapping of talons on the cave floor made her pause her breathing and she braced her weapons-arm, ready to plunge the dagger deep into the chest or throat of whatever it was, that was coming through the tunnel.

\---click--- ---click---

_...Silence..._

The sound stopped. Kiloun-j'pi could not hear a thing. No claws against the stone, no sharp hissing or dripping of spit. It was dead quiet.

And then, a loud screech coming from the tunnel near the entrance. She burst forward with her dagger held high, roaring to channel her rage against the abomination that killed her clan-brother. It was standing in the middle of the passage, blocking the sun with its glossy, black shape. Its shiny black lips were pulled back in a snarl and the barbed tail was swishing back and forth behind its back, curling like a long, spiky snake. She felt no hesitation as she plunged the dagger into the creature's chest, it turned at the last moment, making her miss the primary organs by a shred. She pulled out the dagger and thrusted again, slicing through the armor-like hide and hitting the soft tissue between the creature's ribs. Yellow blood spewed from the wound and splashed on the rock below, making the granite bubble and smoke. 

The r’ka hissed and flicked its tail at the huntress, trying to swipe her legs from under her, but she jumped up and put a foot on its spiked hip, making it miss her completely and raised her arm again to deal out the killing blow. It gave her one last screech as her arm came down, but before she could cut the creature’s neck, her arm suddenly lost all strength. The dagger bounced on it's exoskeleton and fell from her fingers as her paw convulsed. She had enough time to puzzle over how the r'ka could have got to her, before the world blackened as her spine was torn from its ligament- and flesh-cradle, blood and marrow splattered all around her as her carcass joined the dagger on the cave floor.


	6. Chapter 6

His eyes burned. There was a multitude of flame-colored patterns swirling behind his eyelids that made his head throb. As he slowly woke up, Ctei-za wished he could sacrifice his right arm then and there if Cetanu would put him back to sleep. His eyes felt like heavy blocks of lead and his upper-left mandible was pounding in sync with his pulse. He tried to wince but the pain that spiked through the appendage put a stop to the movement. Broken then, great…

He reluctantly slitted his eyes open and had to blink a few times to get his bearings. His stomach churned. Everything around him was red and brown - alien. As he slowly propped himself up on his elbows he suddenly remembered; The game-planet. The Elite kv'var. 

A leaf tickled his crest. Passed out in a bush… It was not the first time to be honest. He bounced up on his feet and scouted the surroundings, the others were nowhere to be seen. Had they left him!? Before the feelings of anger and rejection could start to well out, small fragments of recollection seeped into his mind. He had wandered off from the camp before he fell asleep. Gingerly touching his aching mandible he felt the dried thwei that encrusted the facial appendage. _Hamstring._ She had punched him! 

Had he provoked her into doing it? Ctei-za could not remember any details, his memory was a bit blurry. Had he challenged her and lost? He groaned inwardly. It would not have been the first time he crossed the line when he had been drinking, and Hamstring was one of the more uptight females he had ever laid eyes on. Had she been following him? Wait a moment… His eyes snapped wide open. She had been ogling him when he relieved himself. He could not help to let out a raspy chuckle. He puffed up a bit at the thought of having a strong, Elite female like Hamstring sneaking a peek at his ze'pha. Worth a broken mandible!

The waterskin with c'ntlip lay carelessly dropped on the ground a few metras from the bush. He picked it up slowly and weighed it in his paw. Almost half-empty. If he was to suffer through this party-hunt he would have to ration the rest. Unsure of how long he had been sleeping in the foliage, there was the possibility he would have to track the others for a long time to catch up. This was _if_ he started searching right away. He knitted his paw together to check if the wrist-blades had started working again, but they were still dysfunctional.

Ctei-za climbed up a tree and took the scenic route. Paya had been with him as he had slept on the ground unmolested, but he knew there were limits to his luck. He started to feel energized as he was jumping from tree to tree, closing in on the campsite. The closer he got, the more certain he became that Guan-kantra would not have left him behind. The black male with gray face and chest was loyalty made flesh. They had been closer than brothers ever since their chiva. If there was someone he could count on, it was Guan-kantra.

He slowed down to a prowl as he approached, moving through the canopies like a soundless ghost. He had his mind set on surprising them, especially the kennel mistress. She would initially be angry when he ambushed her, but fighting is the best foreplay. Angry and impressed… He would be on her mind come mating season, one way or the other. Ctei-za purred to himself. He would enjoy showing her his trophy collection.

He fought back the sensation of acid bubbling away in his empty stomach when he grabbed a vine and propelled himself to the next tree. An unpleasant sense of foreboding came over him, but he kept his movements quiet and crouched on a branch right at the edge of the clearing. He knew they were still there even before he saw or heard them. It was her scent that gave them away. He had always had an exceptional sense of smell... It was a blessing and a curse. Having to kv'var with a female going into heat was definitely the latter. The scent could cause him to lose the trophy if he allowed himself to become distracted. He was at the edge of the clearing when he heard it - purring, _female purring._

Employing every bit of stealth he had in his muscles, Ctei-za crawled out on the branch until he had a perfect view over the clearing. The visual laid before him as he looked down at the camp made his stomach lurch in surprise and he had to swallow hard to keep the bile down. 

Yuri was crouching behind his friend, tightening the strap to his pauldrons. Her claws were moving over the leather, pushing it against his massive shoulders while she was purring. Her mandibles were tangled in his dreads! Ctei-za almost purred at the sight, visualizing himself, instead. Guan-kantra was hunched forward, sitting with his legs crossed and eyes closed, evidently enjoying the treatment.

Ctei-za could not believe his friend was interested in Hamstring, of all females! Guan-kantra had never expressed anything of the like, although with her heat coming on… His eyes narrowed and he jumped down from the branch, landing loud and clear on his feet, in front of the couple. He was not going to make it easy for him, Ctei-za had already made his interest known.

Guan-kantra startled and looked like he had seen a ghost. Ctei-za crossed his arms over his chest and his mandibles twitched, making him groan from the pain. He raised a paw to clutch his broken mandible.

"You are alive!" Guan-kantra shot up and made a move to clasp his friend's shoulder. Ctei-za clapped him back a bit too firmly and nodded slowly. 

"Guess I came at a bad time," he growled, lowering his paw and chuffing at his friend.

Yuri put her paws on her hips and parted her lower mandibles. Words could not express how disappointed she was. This meant that the thwei they found...it was...was… She shook her head and her long dreads moved over her back. "Yes, you did," she hissed, her voice venomous. Ctei-za snickered at her, he cherished any kind of reaction from females. It meant something when they cared enough to be angry.

"She was helping me with my armour," the black and gray yautja said calmly.

"Want to help me with my armour as well?" He chuckled, and then winced as pain lanced through his cheek. 

Yuri's paws clenched and he knew without a shadow of a doubt she was going to punch him. He did not duck or dodge, and took the full hit of her fist. She flattened him, he fell back on his ass, a sickening crunch echoing in his head. Oh pauk… she broke the other mandible… but she would remember him. She was in heat… 

"Nrak-ytara is gone," she surprised him by saying, changing the subject completely, "killed," her eyes narrowed to mere slits as she glared at him as though it were his fault, "and N'ithya and Kiloun-j'pi should have come back by now." Her voice was grim, they needed to focus on the matter at hand.

"Okay, so we go look for them on the north side," Guan-kantra allowed, and grunted as he helped Ctai-za to his feet. The latter groaned and shrugged before he grabbed an overhanging branch. He pulled himself up enough to swing a stubby leg over, and was soon out of sight, scurrying above them.

"Are you coming?" He poked his head out from behind a massive trunk. Yuri and Guan-kantra gave each other a look and started to run after him. A short whistle had the remaining hound shooting past them, sniffing the ground and vacuuming the air for a scent-trail.

A long trek later they reached a massive body of rock that was sprouting from the surrounding landscape. They followed it down a slope and skirted around a point when the hound lifted its snout and inhaled deeply. All three yautja followed suit, chests expanding. It bound off in a gallop, following the edge of the mountain. The remaining party could barely keep up. Guan-kantra unhooked his ax from the holster as he ran, Ctei-za and Yuri kept their daggers drawn, this chase was likely to end in a fight.

The hound stopped in the tall grass under a tree. It was whining and circling a spot near a natural cave entrance. Yuri signalled the Ctei-Tjau'ke males to cover her as she slowed down her run and stalked closer to the spot her hound was marking.

The ground was covered in a copious amount of thwei. Bright, sticky fluids coated the vegetation around a large indentation in the ground. A couple of metras closer to the cave, lay a rope ending in a tattered harness. The leather was drenched in the crimson blood of her other canine. _H'ko!_

Yuri crouched down and clutched the harness in silence until she felt a paw rest lightly on her shoulder. When she turned her head Guan-kantra was standing behind her. He clicked his mandibles at her and their eyes met. Yuri sighed and rose to a stand. She followed the length of the rope until she came to the tree it was tied around. She snarled, her lower mandibles flaring as realization dawned on her. Those fools had robbed her hound of an honoured death. Forced it to be tied down and used as bait, as though pauking oomans… 

A trill from the cave entrance caught her attention and she whipped her head towards the sound. Ctei-za was standing in the arc and motioning for them to come over. He turned around and started to walk inside as they joined him. 

The inside was darker, but not dark enough to take away their sight. The smell was awful and it got worse the deeper they got. The walls and floor of the tunnel was painted in yautja thwei, spattered in patterns that glowed all around them, even on the ceiling.

The tunnel ended in a chamber, devoid of yautja remains, but it was hard to miss the head of a tusked carnivore r'ka, placed square center on the floor of the cavern, surrounded by a smelly, resinous goo of crystallized saliva and viscera. 

Ctei-za knelt and used his ceremonial dagger to bend open the maw of the beastly remains lying on the floor. "What the pauk happened here?" He asked out loud to no one in particular as he straightened.

"I know one thing," Yuri said and clicked her mandibles while she looked at both males, "No one could survive the amount of blood loss in here," she then motioned towards the entrance, "Or out there either." The cave grew quiet, they all knew what this meant. Something had killed _both_ the Kan't'kwe-dte hunters, and taken their remains. "We should keep hunting," Yuri finally surmised. "My hound will find the trail."

Guan-kantra clicked in agreement and Ctei-za unhooked his waterskin. The midget drank deeply and wiped his mouth with his paw.

"Really?" Yuri growled at him. The s'yuit-de was going to get drunk again. The contents of that waterskin was going to water a plant very soon, she promised Paya it would happen before he got them all killed.

Ctei-za glared back at her and burped. Yuri could feel a vein threatening to pop on her crest. She growled and turned around deliberately. Guan-kantra followed her out of the cave, keeping his body as a shield between the two other hunters.

Yuri untied the rope from the tree and rolled it into a loop she could hook onto her belt. The hound was waiting for them outside the cave. Yuri blew her whistle to get him sniffing once more. She followed closely as he circled the area, shooting off and coming back to comb the ground thoroughly for tracks.

Ctei-za and Guan-kantra had climbed up a tree and were keeping watch as Yuri and the canine worked the ground.

"I am disappointed in your hound, Hamstring," came the midget's voice from above. 

Yuri could hear the slur in his voice already and it pissed her off. If there was a trail to be found, her tracker would have found it! There was none there. The ground was completely clean, exactly like the spot where Nrak-ytara had fallen.

She let the hound continue on by himself and climbed the tree where Ctei-za was sitting. "Give me." She stretched her paw towards the waterskin. 

The midget shared it reluctantly and narrowed his eyes at her. Yuri uncorked it with a swift motion, but instead of taking a swig she jumped down from the tree and landed on a patch of dried leaves. Ctei-za had time to stand up as Yuri turned the container upside down and poured its contents on the ground. 

The short male jumped after her with a roar. Yuri leered as she threw the empty waterskin at him. Another thud came from the side and Guan-kantra threw himself between her and Ctei-za.

"You had no right to do that, lou-dte kale!" Ctei-za boomed loud enough to draw any r'ka within a thousand metras to them. The shouting only reinforced Yuri's preconceptions about foolish Ctei-Tjau'ke males. _S'yuit-des._

"Someone should have done it ages ago," Yuri hissed back at him. "C'ntlip has no place on a kv'var!" She flared her mandibles wide open and puffed out her chest at him. How _dare_ he call her that!

Ctei-za snarled and spread his own mandibles, caring nothing for the pain that shot through the broken appendages, it only fueled his anger more. Yuri wanted to laugh again when she saw him spreading only the two, the others bent in awkward angles.

The midget roared again and made an attempt to jump at Yuri. He was caught mid-air by two bulky, black-scaled arms that locked him in a grip and pulled him back. Ctei-za barked furiously and struggled but Guan-kantra held him captive.

Yuri crossed her arms over her chest and watched the males wrestle. There was something to be said about all that snarling and grunting. Guan-kantra should let him come though, she did not need his help dealing with the runt.

The midget ran out of steam pretty quickly and started to slouch in his friend's arms. She rolled her eyes at him. Pathetic. Guan-kantra spun them around 180 degrees and released him from the grip. He was effectively blocking Yuri with his bulk. Ctei-za cursed under his breath but he made no further attempts to get to Yuri. Instead he turned around fast, making his dreads clap over his neck and stalked into the dto until he was out of sight.

Guan-kantra turned slowly towards Yuri, his eyes were blazing. "Why did you do that?" The male accused her and his scales bristled visibly from restrained anger.

Yuri caught herself almost purring at him. She had to admit that she liked it when he showed some spirit. "Do you really need me to explain?" She folded her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes at him.

Guan-kantra rolled his eyes and he closed his mandibles with a snap. "You know perfectly well what I mean." With a few steps he was standing right in front of her. His warm breath was practically puffing against her clavicle. "You overstepped your boundaries."

Yuri looked down at the male. She decided to give him another chance and explain it in a way even the most thick-skulled youngblood would understand. "Somebody had to do it." She pointed in the direction Knee-high had taken off to and added, "He is a liability, and you enable him." 

Guan-kantra chuffed and made a look in the direction Ctei-za had stalked off to. He returned his eyes to Yuri and assessed her for a long time before he turned his face away and murmured, "Forget I said anything." He moved off and sat down on a fallen log with his paws rubbing over his face and sighed deeply.

She eyed him for a long time, before she sat down as well and waited for him to calm down.

"It has never been easy for him..." Guan-kantra started.

Yuri snorted and interrupted him, "Stop making excuses for his weakness." 

Guan-kantra picked up a stick from the ground and poked in the leaves. He sighed and took a deep breath. They sat side by side in silence. 

Yuri was about to give up on him, she probably would have if they had been in any other situation, but there was a dangerous r'ka on the loose. She needed to know if she could trust Guan-kantra. That meant she would have to hear him out. "Sorry," she admitted. "I did not mean to interrupt." She clicked her mandibles shut and waited for him to reply.

Guan-kantra stopped stirring the leaves and swallowed audibly. "I have known him since our chiva," he gave Yuri a side look. "More than three hundred years." 

Yuri hummed but waited for him to continue, trying not to judge before she had heard him out fully. It was a bit hard for her to focus as the light made his eyes gleam golden, they reminded her of Setg'in-yu'san. 

"I tried to kill him…" He was staring off into the distance, "...On our chiva," then he dropped his gaze to the ground. Yuri's interest was piqued. She turned to face him fully.

Guan-kantra finally looked at her and the words came rushing out, like a confession. "It was me and another unblooded, Vayuh'ta. We struck a deal… Use Ctei-za as bait and kill the kiande amedha while they feasted on his flesh." He shook his head and squeezed his knees tight enough to make his knuckles crack. "Because of his stature, we assumed he was weak, just like everyone else always does."

Yuri was not particularly surprised. She knew chiva-siblings sometimes were relentless in their pursuit of the bloodening. Preying on a weaker chiva-brother was not exactly dishonorable.

"He saved my life," Guan-kantra sighed. "Ctei-za knew I tried to have him killed and he still saved my life in an ambush…"

She could not hold back her opinion anymore. At least she tried. "He robbed you of an honoured death," she chuffed, "Are you trying to make me feel sorry for him? ...Trying to make excuses for his drinking problem?" 

"No-" Guan-kantra was quick to redress her as he glared at her, "He is _that_ kind of male. I can trust him. Always." He put his paw on her greaves for emphasis. "And he can trust me, I would never try to betray him again. We are closer than brothers."

Yuri had to swallow awkwardly. His paw was burning her through the leather and his dreads were close enough to reach if she just lifted her paw… She almost stared at them but returned her eyes to his before he could take notice.The male was spilling his guts to her and all she could focus on was his body… Cetanu take her!

"He is still a liability," Yuri re-affirmed. He squeezed her leg through the leather, before removing it. _Paya._ That had felt nice. She tried to soften her voice and end the conversation so they could move on to something more interesting. "You need to free yourself of him, or he needs to clear his mind of the toxins on the hunt." The purr was impossible to hold back, he smelled too good, even without releasing his dai-shui. It was her heat approaching, Paya be damned!

She leaned towards him to get another whiff of his incredible scent when Guan-kantra all of a sudden rose from his seat. Yuri's purr stopped as soon as his heat was lost from the spot. _H'ko!_ He shook his head fiercely and growled, "I need to find him!"

Yuri sat dumbfounded and watched him leave. A wet nose puffed at her paw. She looked down at the tracker panting in front of her. Why in the name of Paya must this always happen to her? The hound gave her no answer, its red tongue lolled out from the side of its mouth. 

A loud roar broke through from the jungle where Guan-kantra had gone to look for Ctei-za. Yuri straightened immediately and barked out a command to make the hound _stay_. She sprinted in the direction the calls were coming from. Her ceremonial dagger was already in her paw, ready to kill and skin any threat to her kv'var brothers.

The ground under her feet got softer, a green moss cushioned her steps underneath the leaves and then her left foot sank down with a _plop._ Yuri almost lost her balance as the ground sucked her in. The next step produced a squelshing sound as she had to pull her foot out from the hole. It was now covered in mud. Typical Knee-high to withdraw into a pauk-de bog! She tried to jump between trees and rocks as much as possible to avoid getting stuck in the mud. As she got closer to the original sound another roar vibrated over the swamp, a loud trill followed. It was a call for reinforcements!

She joined the males quickly. The midget had indeed retreated into a swamp, the area was less dense than the jungle they had come from. The ground was _soggy._ With a bit of bad luck one could sink down to the waist. The ground had the same muggy green-brown patterning Ctei-za sported, a perfect camouflage for himself, but not for Guan-kantra or Yuri.

Her focus changed quickly from the surrounding bog to the shrieking r'ka the males were fighting. It was large, almost the size of a queen, but it lacked the spiky crest and jutting hip bones. Instead this one had an odd shape. Its legs were a lot thinner than usual, the femurs were short, almost nonexistent, as in canines or birds, and its pelvis was angled backwards. The upper body was smooth instead of the usual gnarly, emaciated thorax.

The angle of its legs gave it a scuttling gait, that even though it looked strange, seemed to be agile enough to evade the weapon Guan-kantra was swinging.

Ctei-za roared at the beast and made a jab with his dagger to distract it while Guan-kantra took another swing with his ax. Sharp claws parried the attacks as the two males were driving it backwards. Yuri started to flank the r'ka. She moved silently to get as close as possible before it took notice. On instinct she tried to expand her wristblades, and as soon as she tried to engage, she remembered it would not work. It did not matter, the blade in her hand would be sufficient to execute the maneuver.

The males had seen her approach and they increased their efforts to distract the r'ka while Yuri moved past it for an ambush. She kept her centre of gravity low and moved her feet constantly to sidestep the thrashing tail. The three hunters continued to drive the beast into a pincer attack, with Guan-kantra at its front and Ctei-za and Yuri covering its sides. Yuri swiped with her blade at its leg to cripple it, but her first try only nicked the exoskeleton, not even deep enough to draw blood. The tail came swinging at her instinctively and she had to jump back to avoid getting smashed. Ctei-za lunged with his dagger at the creature, who screeched and kicked at the smaller yautja. Its claws raked over his abdomen, but the armor took most of the hit. Guan-kantra managed to strike a hit on one of its elbows. The ax sliced through halfway and the r'ka shrilled in pain, acid sprayed from the wound, forcing the hunters to back off to avoid being hit. 

The r'ka opened its maw and the inner mouth pushed out with another angry shriek. It shook and unwrapped something it had tucked against its back. Two large wings unfolded and it extended the pinions wide, lifting its body with rapid flapping. Guan-kantra reacted first. He leaped after it and grabbed the serrated tail as the beast tried to flee. His massive weight pulled it down on the ground again. Yuri saw her chance and lashed out her blade. It cut through the tough hide of its right leg and severed a sinew with a snap. It sounded like bones breaking. The r'ka screeched and wobbled, losing its balance. One of its arms came around and struck Yuri, sending her flying several metras into the marsh. 

The r'ka spread its wings again, Ctei-za lunged forward and grabbed one of the tips. He pulled it toward himself and the r'ka spun around and raked a clawed paw over his head. Ctei-za roared in pain as streaks of bright thwei welled up from the shredded hide on his crest. He was still holding its wing in a tight grip. Guan-kantra slammed the sharp end of his ax in the outstretched appendage, cutting the extremity sufficiently to make the wing tear as Ctei-za kept pulling on the tip. Acid splashed liberally all around, hitting Guan-kantra's chest and shoulders. Ctei-za tumbled on the ground, still holding the severed wing.

At that point Yuri had crawled up from the bog, she was covered head to toe in mud, her ceremonial dagger was lost somewhere in the marsh, there was no time to try to find it. She charged the beast with a roar and delivered a wide round-kick that sent the beast flying down on its back. It thrashed and shrieked as Guan-kantra flew on top of it, roaring in a battle frenzy that was fueled equally by anger and pain. His dark scales sizzled between the chestplate and pauldron where the acid had struck him. He whacked the blunt end of his ax on the r'ka's tubular head. It cracked with a disgusting sound and the creature continued to shrill and kick with its good leg and arm as Guan-kantra put his entire weight on its chest, making them both sink down into the soft ground. He used the ax to maul and pound at its head until it was entirely submerged and its screams were drowned in mud and replaced with bubbles. The mud became a perfect shield from its acid thewi as Guan-kantra kept hacking at its thorax, over and over again, until the body stopped struggling and grew limp.

Ctei-za reached into the pouch on his belt and took out the box with healing ointment. When Guan-kantra had calmed down he clicked at him and spread the salve over the wounds. Guan-kantra tilted back his head to allow him access. Yuri joined them and helped to remove the pauldron to make Ctei-za reach where the acid had crept under the armor.

"Congratulations on the kill," Ctei-za clicked and patted Guan-kantra's shoulder. The other male wheezed and gave him a quick glance before he closed his eyes and calmed his breath. 

"Thanks." He supported himself on his knees and Ctei-za and Yuri helped him to pull up the carcass from the mud. The inner mouth was cut off swiftly with the dagger and Guan-kantra placed it in his trophy net.

"You should take this as well." Ctei-za wiggled the broken wing in front of his face. Guan-kantra stared at the limb. "What sort of r'ka was this anyway…" He shook his head slowly. Ctei-za shrugged and stretched out one of its legs in front of him. The claws on the foot were unusually long, only three toes. "I think it's a bird hybrid..." He contemplated the foot in silence and tapped his lower mandibles against his chin. 

Guan-kantra wiped most of the blood from his ax on the moss and turned to Ctei-za suddenly. "Was not one of our Elders involved with researching ways to hybridize and improve prey?" He asked the other male.

Ctei-za stood up and cracked his knuckles. "I think so. Did not think it had come this far though," he growled. "On the other hand, what better way to try it out than on an Elite kv'var?"

Yuri growled and wiped her muddy paws on the ground. "It killed three of us! I would say it is a terrible way."

"Do not forget there were two of them," he held up two fingers, "The one in the cave was definitely r'ka." Guan-kantra stood up and frowned. "There was only supposed to be one in this zone"

"It did have wings…" Yuri interjected. "Perhaps it flew in from another zone."

"Perhaps…" Guan-kantra sounded sceptical.

"Either way, it is dead now," Ctei-za declared. "Take your trophies and let us get back to the ship." He shivered and rubbed his arms." It is getting pauk-de cold here without my netting."

He was right of course. It looked like the sun was about to set. It had dropped closer to the horizon since they got to their hunting-zone, it did not mean that much considering how long a cycle took on this planet, but the temperature had dropped. Yuri felt it as well. She missed her thermal netting terribly too. 

Guan-kantra made quick work with the carcass. He took one of the long claws on its heel and severed the other wing at the shoulder. He held the appendage up and down and shook it a bit to drain most of the acid before he put some ointment on the cut. It sealed the last of the thwei and he could fold the wing and strap it to his harness next to his useless combistick.

The wing would attract quite the female attention, Yuri guessed. He had won the trophy fair and square. She was a bit jealous but she could perhaps get her own kind of trophy from Guan-kantra later. If only Knee-high would buzz off…

The party started to head back to the ship. Once they reached the treeline again, Ctei-za and Yuri climbed up into the trees and Guan-kantra jogged on the ground. They went back to the spot with the cave to get the hound, but instead of finding him next to the log where she left him, his skinned carcass was hanging from a tree. One of his hind legs stuck in the fork between two branches.

"H'ko!" Yuri jumped up the tree and unhooked the leg. The body dropped unceremoniously to the ground. She crouched beside it and inspected the cuts. _Was this the handiwork of another yautja?_ Ctei-za came up beside her and put a paw on her shoulder, making Yuri flinch. What the pauk! They were not friendly just because they fought together. She left the hound on the ground and turned from it with a heavy sigh. 

The hunters started to look around to try and spot the bad blood that did this. Ctei-za inhaled sharply and tapped on Yuri's arm. "What?" She hissed. Ctei-za ignored the tone of her voice. He had greater concerns. "Where is Guan-kantra?" He spun around and the look on his face showed both panic and confusion. The dto around them was eerily quiet. Ctei-za climbed the tree the hound had been hanging from and scouted desperately around him. He cupped his mouth with his paws and shouted. "GUAN-KANTRA!"

Yuri stood frozen like a statue. She did not want to make a sound, she was listening, waiting to hear footsteps, but they never came.


	7. Chapter 7

For all they could tell, Guan-kantra had vanished into thin air. Yuri and Ctei-za searched the surrounding dto, even backtracked as far as into the marsh where they fought the r'ka, but his trail had vanished about half-way between the swamp and the cave. Ctei-za could have raised the dead with his shouting but it had done no good. They had not found as much as a drop of thwei and there were no other tracks to follow.

"There is a high probability that Guan-kantra is hunting with Cetanu now," Yuri proclaimed and leaned against a tree, catching her breath after all the meaningless running.

Knee-high growled at her and drove his fist into the nearest trunk, sending the bark flying around them. "I will not give up the search until I find his body!" His lower mandibles flared. He was challenging her to defy him. She thought about it for a moment and then dismissed it. 

Yuri grunted and glared at the midget. "So what do you suggest we do?" She spat and shook her head, sending her dreads scattering over her back. "We are running around blindly and the trackers are dead. This dto is too large to search!" 

Ctei-za lowered his head and rubbed his face with a paw. "I do not know…" He turned his face toward her when his eyes suddenly lit up. "I got an idea!" he spun around and began to sprint back to the cave.

 _Fantastic..._ Yuri sneered to herself and started to race after him. The near sobriety had obviously not done any wonders for his logic.

"Help me carry this boulder into the cave," Knee-high panted enthusiastically at Yuri when she caught up with him outside the cavern. The boulder was a fairly flat piece of rock that had separated from the mountainside a few metras from the opening. 

"What are you going to do with it?" Yuri asked and narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him. 

"I am building a deadfall inside the cave," The midget announced and patted the rock. "You are going to help me carry it inside and then we are going to find three logs to support it." He straightened his back and looked pleased with himself.

"Why are we building a trap inside the cave," Yuri sighed and placed her hands on her hips. "A bad blood would never fall for it."

"Because we are going to bait him," Ctei-za clicked and leaned back against the rock. "Do you have a better idea?"

"How are we going to bait him?" Yuri asked, humoring him. She still thought the idea was s'yuit-de.

"You are," Ctei-za said complacently, almost purring. "We are using you as bait."

She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Why me?" 

The midget tilted his head and gave her a long, knowing look. "You are in heat," he said as though that explained everything, "He will be drawn to your scent, in this way, we have control over the next encounter," he clarified smugly.

"How do we know this is a bad blood?" She asked, contemplating pounding him into the ground down to his neck. That would also be great bait. "It could be another r'ka," she retorted coolly, calming her rising ire.

"In all my years, I have never encountered an r'ka that skins and hangs up prey," Ctei-za shook his head. "No. This is a yautja, or someone mimicking one." 

"He would be a pathetic bad blood to be lured by my scent," she scoffed, and then flexed her paw. She was going to break a third mandible, he was begging for it. 

"You have a better idea, Hamstring?" He eyed her critically, "I am not asking much, just stand out here, and then lure him inside," he gesticulated eagerly with his paws and concluded, "Once you are inside the cavern, I will drop the boulder and crush him."

The idea was not foolproof, but it was the only one they had at the moment, as loathed as she was to admit it. She glared at him, and nodded. "We will try your measly plan." Yuri lowered her paw and circled to stand on the opposite side of the rock. "Where do you want this thing?"

"Inside the cave near the tunnel, next to the thwei stains." Ctei-za grabbed the rock from under and lifted while Yuri did the same on the other side. They carried the heavy boulder inside and placed it on the cavern floor.

"I miss Guan-kantra's ax," Ctei-za grumbled and scratched his neck. 

"I don't have anything," Yuri retorted, "I lost my blade in the swamp." 

Ctei-za twitched his mandibles in surprise. He had not noticed. Without thinking further he pulled out his own dagger from the sheath and extended it to Yuri, hilt first. "You need this more than I." He gave the blade a short wave when Yuri remained motionless. "If things go wrong," he surmised.

Yuri blinked surprised and immediately dismissed the offer. "You are weaker and need it more than I."

"I will be inside the cave. No need for it." Ctei-za waved the hilt in front of her again.

"And if your trap is unsuccessful, you will be cornered without a weapon," She chuffed and glared at him. "It was me that lost the dagger. It is only fair I get to hunt with Cetanu if this plan fails."

"It is still an honored death, even when armed..." Knee-high groused, but Yuri still refused to take it. Cursing her stubbornness under his breath, he sheathed the ceremonial dagger again and declared, "We need to find suitable logs and branches for the trap. Without the ax it will be hard to chop them up to appropriate length."

The hunters headed back outside again and searched the dto for branches. They eventually found logs that needed a minimum of carving and were thick and fresh enough to support the boulder. After dragging them inside the cave, Ctei-za used the blade to carve deep grooves into the two support logs. He nicked a thinner branch to fit between the logs to steady them, tying the end of Yuri's rope to the trigger stick. When he pulled on the rope, the branch would come off and the support logs would collapse, making the boulder on top fall down and immobilise the bad blood.

"We are ready to hoist the boulder," Ctei-za told Yuri and grabbed the third log. "Lift it so I can place this under it."

Yuri lifted the boulder on one side while Ctei-za propped the logs under the flat bottom to support the side of the rock. He angled the logs slightly and made sure the trigger stick was anchored tightly between the two support logs before he switched sides. This was the tricky part, he needed to hoist the boulder while Yuri held her side with the support contraption in place.

"Just back off if everything comes crashing down," he warned Yuri and started to use the last log to heave the boulder up over the entrance of the tunnel. When he had straightened the log to Yuri's height he angled it to make the rock lean against the opening. It had lowered the ceiling slightly but in the dusk inside the cave it was impossible to spot the trap.

He moved the rope tied around the trigger stick to the side. It would only need a pull for the boulder to fall. Satisfied with his death trap he turned to Yuri and clicked, "Your Nrak'ytara is not the only one that knows how to survive in the wilderness without technology."

Yuri rolled her eyes and snorted, "You have not caught anything yet!" Her paw moved to scratch at the dried mud caking the length of her arm. It had started to itch. "The bad blood is probably watching us, amusing himself greatly."

"At least we are doing something," Knee-high retorted and opened his mouth to better taste the air on his tongue. "You need to bathe." The female smelled nothing like her heat, rather she stank from the mud that covered her from head to toe. It was masking her natural h'dui'se.

"Sure. I will just go and soak in the bathing hole then. No problem!" Yuri replied mockingly and clawed the root of a dread that had started to itch as well.

"Hilarious!" Knee-high deadpanned and folded his arms over his chest. "I was thinking about the river I found on the other side of the swamp." He unhooked the waterskin from his harness and shook it in front of Yuri to let her hear the water ripple inside of it.

 _The… What?_ Yuri felt her paw itch from something more than dry mud. Suppressing the need to punch him in the face again, she only gave him a short growl, "Tell me where." 

Ctei-za tried to grin, but he was acutely reminded of his broken mandibles, turning the expression into a wince. He walked under the deadfall into the tunnel. Yuri had to duck to get under it. "Is it wise to leave the trap in here unguarded?" She asked him and looked back into the darkness. "What if the bad blood gets in here before you do?"

Ctei-za looked over his shoulder at her and clicked, "I did not realize you were so concerned about me?" He held his mandibles with his paw, it was becoming a nuisance. He had several cycles of recuperating ahead of him before the bones would mend themselves together again. 

"Forget it!" Yuri hissed and kicked at the back of his thigh lightly to get him moving. 

"Calm down, Hamstring." The midget chuffed and teased her, "I know you always go for the legs, but if you do not start to control yourself, you will have to carry me." 

Yuri growled menacingly and kicked him again. She would not carry the midget if he got himself injured. He could decompose on the ground for all she cared. _S'yuit-de._

It turned out Knee-high was telling the truth. There was a river flowing not too far from the swamp. Ctei-za leaned against a tree with his arms crossed around his chest as Yuri filled her own waterskin. The water was freezing. She contemplated leaving the mud on her hide and scratch it off in small flakes instead, but the smug look on Knee-high's face made her reconsider. She removed her gear and loincloth, ignoring Ctei-za deliberately. It would be a snowy day on Prime before anyone would accuse her of being afraid of some cold water.

Ctei-za observed Yuri as she trotted into the cold river and dipped her entire body under the water in one swift dive. She came quickly back up again, the water splashing around her and dripping off her long, brown dreads. The chill made her scales paler, the brown and beige blending together into new mosaic patterns. The mud was melting off her skin, uncovering the bristling fabric of her hide. 

He could not help to imagine what her trophy wall must look like back home on Prime. It was true that she was the better hunter of the two, he would never admit it of course. Ctei-za had felled his fair share of prey, even a queen, but that particular trophy was decorating the house of another female, gifted off as a mating-trophy, long ago. Even with such a prestige offering he had been forced to subdue her in hand-to-hand combat to seed her. That particular pup had not survived his chiva. 

When he first heard about the party-hunt he had not been pleased. Six Elite hunters and only one r'ka? The odds of securing a worthy trophy for the upcoming mating season had not been good. When he had learned that Hamstring was there, he had felt like his luck was finally turning again. However, spending time alone with her like this would never be worth losing Guan-kantra. He hoped they would hunt together again soon, in this life or the next.

The short green male shook his head until the clips on his dreads rattled. There was no use dwelling on things he could not change. His thoughts easily wandered to dark places after he had drank too much and the effects of the c'ntlip was wearing off. He thirtsted, not for the first time, since Hamstring had poured out his comforts. 

Dripping wet and riled up from the cold bath, Hamstring glared at Ctei-za as she climbed the riverbank and stopped in front of him, hissing, "Satisfied?"

Ctei-za repressed the urge to make a snide comeback, instead he grunted in affirmation. As they were heading back to the cave he stopped in the middle of the swamp. "I am going to mask my own scent," he sat down in a puddle of mud and started to smear the stinking clay all over himself. He collected some in his loincloth before he stood up. Yuri gave him a questioning quirk of her brow. 

"To cover the rope to the trigger to make it blend with the surroundings," he explained, "We should assume the bad blood has a working bio-mask. Be careful of laser targets."

"I am not a suckling," Yuri sneered and took the lead. The best thing about this whole plan was that they would be separated.

Ctei-za lumbered into the cave and Yuri sat down outside the entrance, picking at the dried meat she had stored in her satchel. Luckily her wet hide had dried off as they walked back. The sun was definitely setting, and with dusk the last warmth in the air would dissipate. She was unsure if she preferred freezing to death over huddling up with the midget for body heat.

There was not much to do except wait. Pretending to tend to her ropes, Yuri passed the time and tried not to shiver. She eventually capitulated to the cold and went in search of two dried pieces of wood and some dried moss. The entire situation made her miss her plasma pistol. It would have been so much easier to start a fire with a regular weapon, but she would freeze to death before she asked Knee-high for his dagger. Silently, she worked the two sticks. Smoke smoldered and eventually she had a small flame dancing on the moss.

A soft rustle, misplaced against the rhythmic sweep of the wind made Yuri's awareness peak and she froze instantly, sharpening her hearing and sense of smell. She whipped her head in the direction of the sound. It had come from the dto. There were no other signs of the enemy. 

When Yuri blacked out it was sudden and she did not register the thump when the rock hit the back of her head.

  


* * *

  


Inside the cave, Ctei-za had been waiting impatiently for Yuri and the bad blood to appear. He was starting to doubt the plan and felt indecisive whether he should abort or not. What if the bad blood ignored the bait? How long would they be able to wait without freezing to death? He would have preferred to stay with Yuri. At least they could have kept each other warm. A thump outside decided for him, alerting him to be prepared to pull the rope. Several heartbeats later, he still could not hear the sound of Yuri's footsteps. She should be rushing inside the cave, leading the bad blood into the trap. Something had gone wrong, he could feel it.

Leaping to his feet, Ctei-za ran outside, leaving the trigger rope on the ground. He came out in time to see a dark figure with long dreads disappearing, up into the trees. Yuri was being dragged up the plant, motionless and limp. He reacted without thinking.

He pulled out his blade and threw it into the trees where he had seen the figure disappear. He roared and grabbed Yuri by her paws, yanking her back down the tree - _hard._ There was an answering roar filled with agony and Ctei-za landed back on his rear with the unconscious Yuri on top of him. He was quick to move her, his finger examined her pulse, she lived.

Yuri made no sound as he dragged her into the entrance of the cave and ran back up the tree. His talons dug into the bark and he moved with inherent speed that always surprised his enemies. He was almost up the tree when he was hit with such force on his head that he was sent crashing back down to the ground.

Ctei-za landed on his back, knocking the wind right out of him. He spotted the dark figure, but in his daze, he could not make out what it was. The world blackened for an instant or was it more than that? It took him too long to pull himself to his feet. He needed Hamstring to kill the pauk-de bad blood. Sprinting back to the cave where he had dragged Yuri, Ctei-za crouched down beside her body and started to feel it for injuries.

She was not bleeding anywhere and he heard her breathe weakly. _Thank Cetanu!_ Her time had not come yet. He cradled her head carefully in his lap. It looked whole and her neck was stable. What kind of bad blood would ambush a female in heat like that? Unless… was the bad blood another female? 

"Yuri," her name felt foreign in his mouth. It tasted odd, like an unripe fruit. Who did he try to fool? "Hamstring!" He cried out her name and shook her shoulders briskly.

Yuri's eyes shot open and her entire body stiffened the instant she woke up. "What are you doing!?" Her voice, accusing and disoriented. 

Ctei-za startled and let her fall to the ground in a heap, it was like dropping his bearer's prized trophy he had unbiddenly picked up. He shrilled defensively, "I was only checking you for injuries!" 

Yuri growled and flared her lower mandibles at him. She was furious over being ambushed. Nobody had ever dared to knock her out, especially not without a challenge first! "Why are you still here and not chasing the bad blood!" She accused him and jumped to her feet. 

"I need you skill," he countered and backed out of reach. "We are up against a yautja better armed."

"Good point, Knee-high," Yuri huffed and looked around in every direction. "Which way are we going?"

Ctei-za started to run in the direction he last saw the assailant. A few metras into the dto he saw fluorescent specks of thwei on a fern, the trail of blood continued on into the jungle. He had heard right, the bad blood had been hit by his dagger. The weapon was nowhere to be seen though. _Typical._ What did please him however was that the thwei spilled was not acid, what he hit was a yautja. He had been correct about who they were dealing with.

Yuri had caught up with him and stared at the blood. "You were right about the bad blood," she confessed, but not without adding smugly, "Your plan with the deadfall was still s'yuit-de."

Sighing heavily and shaking his head, Ctei-za clicked his lower mandibles and ignored her comment. They continued to follow the trail. Ever so often they would find more glowing thwei on a bush or some leaves, confirming they were on the right track. They passed the swamp and reached the river only about a hundred metras from where Yuri took her bath. The trail ended at the edge of a small cliff, dropping down into the river. The bad blood must have crossed the water.

Yuri shivered from the memory of the cold bath. She would get in regardless of her feelings about it, but not before having some fun with the midget. Ctei-za gave her a look as if to check if she would jump in first. Yuri took the opportunity to kick him square in the back, sending the midget barreling head first into the river.

Ctei-za emerged roaring and thrashing. Bolting up from the river, dripping with water and mud. Yuri chuckled and shook her head at him. Males! He could not handle the cold water. His eyes were blazing, glaring at her accusingly. "You pushed me!"

Not even trying to hide her mirth, Yuri towered over him and goaded, "What are you going to do about it, Knee-high!" 

Ctei-za growled at her and crouched into a ball, he drove his body forward with surprising force, hitting Yuri in her shins and sending both of them into the river. 

Even before they could break the surface, Yuri had tried to knee him in the gut. The water resistance was too heavy to inflict him any real pain, but she got a hold of his head and pushed him further down while she herself could emerge on the surface and suck in a deep breath. Ctei-za was flailing under the surface, trying to kick himself up but Yuri held him down steady by the crest, until a terrible pain lanced through her skull and dreads. The midget had got a hold of her tresses and was pulling on them furiously. She had no choice but to let him go in favor of grabbing his hand to pry it off her dreads.

Ctei-za emerged with a splash, gasping heavily and clawing at her chest to get away while he was treading water. Yuri threw herself after him but the little pauk-de was a fast swimmer, even on his back. He reached shore and hit a slippery rock while Yuri drew back her arm, ready to deal him a punch that would crack his thick skull. Her fist barely missed his eye socket and bounced against his cheekbone as he turned his head at the last moment. 

Ctei-za hissed, sharp pain spiked through his cheek. He barely had time to roll to the side before Yuri tried to body slam him against the rock. He continued to roll a few turns and bounced up on his feet, backing away with his front turned to Yuri. He yelled, "Stop!" but Yuri was lost in her rage. He inhaled deeply. Heat rage… pauk...

She came after him and kicked him in the shoulder, the cartilage crunched, making him spin around almost a complete turn. He growled and found his balance again, just as Yuri hissed and aimed another kick at him. Her superior reach was not enough. He evaded her attempt by crouching low as her leg arced over him. Pulling at her other leg, Ctei-za caused her to lose balance and fall down on her back with a loud crash that made her head ring.

Ctei-za used the moment of confusion to straddle her chest. "Calm the pauk down!" He panted and looked in her eyes to find any evidence of reason in her blazing, golden orbs. Her lower mandibles were flared wide open and she stared at him in shock. How did the midget manage to knock her over?

Her chest was heaving up and down with her frenzied breathing and he was suddenly very aware of how his inner thighs were pressed against her abdomen. They stared wordlessly at each other and a rumbling purr unbiddingly erupted from deep within Ctei-za's chest. Her pupils dilated and he had enough self awareness to think, _Calm now, female,_ but his purr ended abruptly when Yuri lashed out with both her paws and threw him off her.

Ctei-za landed on his back, the force knocked the wind from his lungs. He had barely time to orient himself before Yuri threw herself at him and pounded both of her paws straight into his chest. The punch drove the air from his lungs once again but the pain felt distant, as if it was not him that had been hit. Yuri trilled and sat down on his chest, pinning his arms down with her legs, effectively immobilizing him. 

Both hunters were panting heavily. Ctei-za's peripheral vision was beginning to shrink, the edges blackening and spreading over his retinas. He willed his heartbeats down to keep himself from hyperventilating. The deathblow he anticipated did not come, the large female was unmoving, the mail of her loincloth chafed against his chest. A slight movement back by Yuri let blissful air rush into his compressed lungs, but there was also something else besides oxygen, a sweet, musky scent that made his body react instinctively. His rapid heartbeat and surging adrenaline only made it worse! He could not stop it from happening even if he wanted to. His ze'pha became rock hard and the muscle inside his sheath contracted and forced it out from the slit. Ctei-za started to laugh hoarsely. 

"Move down a litte. You are sitting too high," he wheezed between laughing fits.

What? Yuri had no idea why he was snickering. Stupid midget! She did not like the turn this fight had taken. She made a move to rise off him but no sooner than her rear had left his chest did his paws land on her hips, pulling her down again. They slid downwards, groping her as a claw drifted down and probed the cleft of her rear.

Yuri flew off him as if burnt. "What the pauk!" He was still lying on his back and she almost choked when she saw it. His loincloth had slipped open and the little pauk-de was flaunting his ze'pha again. It was pointing upwards rigidly, distended and shiny with his lubricant.

Ctei-za purred and gave it a languid stroke, making the appendage lengthen some more and dribble over his sheath. He had stopped laughing and reduced to throwing vulgar looks at her.

She hated it and she hated him! What was even worse was the wave of heat that rolled over her at the sight of him. She channeled the feeling into pure rage. Roaring, almost seeing red, she lunged at him again. She would rip it off! How dare he, a pauk-de midget! Did he really think she would mate with him? She was saving herself for Setg'in-yu'san!


	8. Chapter 8

Her first memory was of gut-twisting, mind-shattering hunger. Her juvenile mind searched frantically, looking for the link instinctually. She found a protector. A calming mental pulse soothed her. Protector would find food. There was fresh meat in their territory, meat that could be hunted. She stayed in their nest while Protector tracked them. Their minds were linked even over great distances. 

She could sense everything that transpired as if it were happening to herself. The exhilaration of finding prey separated from the flock, the adrenaline of stalking and attacking. Every cut, every wound Protector was inflicted with, made her own flesh sting. The panic and resignation when Protector was cornered, she felt that too. She sent a thought to encourage them. _I will become Mother. Help me grow strong._ This incited Protector into action.

The euphoria of killing ignited her blood, they would feast at last. The excitement did not persist when she learned their meat had spoiled itself. Her screech of anger wracked Protector, but she did not care. _Hungry. Hungry. HUNGRY._

Next time they went out together. She was small, nothing but a nymph, but it made it easy to hide in the putrid remains of an unworthy sibling. She crawled into the flesh that in fact was her flesh. Protector's memories flooded her mind and she remembered how they had injected a fluid in the carcass. A part of it had morphed into an egg. Her ancestral egg. She felt pride and affinity. Protector was the reason for her birth. They were _one._

Hunting the two intruders was easy. Protector killed one and the other entered the cave. It did not discover her hiding in the reeking meat-womb. It helped that she was small, but she would not be small for long. When Protector started to fight the new prey she crawled out without making a sound. Treading on light feet with her talons tucked in she snuck up from behind. The prey never understood what happened. It felt satisfying to tear the spine from its back, like she was born to do this. She knew she influenced Protector too. They would never have thought to do it to the other prey without her guidance.

They now had plenty of meat to eat and grow strong. Protector had to move it to their nest in pieces. The carcasses were too heavy for them to carry all at once. She could now eat herself content. Grow bigger. Stronger.

By the time Protector was attacked, she had quadrupled in size. She galloped to help, _they were one_ , but she had come too late. A pack of predators had already overpowered her guardian. The link in her mind was severed painfully and she was left alone. A great fear and fury overtook her. She ran as fast as she could, screaming in her head. Their horned beast received a part of her rage when she strung it up and flayed the skin. This was more than just survival now. 

The one that had killed Protector had fallen behind the others. She wanted to rip its head off and mount it on the entrance of her nest. However, as she stalked it from behind another idea took form. If she captured it alive she could create another sibling, just as Protector had. She would become its _Mother._ Its _Protector._

It was a watchful predator, glancing this way and that. He stopped suddenly and raised his axe. She moved like the wind, light on her feet despite her size. He never noticed her until she was on him, her bulk hitting him square in the chest with so much force he made no sound as she sent him flying backwards. He struggled to get to his feet, she had to move quickly. 

She dropped on his back and bounced him off the ground with her weight. Two punches to his head knocked him unconscious. Her head tilted and her maw opened as she growled down at him. She dragged the body back by the legs, to the nest before the others found out.

  


* * *

  


Yuri threw herself at the midget to smash him, but he managed to draw up his knees and place his feet against her chest. Ctei-za kicked out, catapulting her substantially larger body over his head. She somersaulted in the air and landed on the grass a few metras behind him. 

Both Elites jumped to their feet at the same time. Yuri hissed and charged forward, talons ready to rip him to shreds. Ctei-za ducked and spun around to flank her. He wasn't fast enough and Yuri kicked him in the back, her long, black talons dug deep into his hide and tore it apart between his shoulder blades. Ctei-za roared in pain. Yuri kicked him again and he flew face first in the dirt. His body hurt all over. With every breath he took, her scent got thicker.

Shaking his head he managed to prop himself up on his elbows. Her voice boomed as she loomed over him and taunted, "Had enough, s'yuit-de?"

Ctei-za felt enraged for the first time since the fight started. Vicious lou-dte kale! He would fight her until she killed him! He rolled forward and up to a stand. Growling ferociously he turned towards her and evaded a blow that was aimed at his mandibles.

Yuri tried to punch him again but he caught her arm and twisted it so that her momentum made her flip over his shoulder. She landed on her stomach and was pushed down further when Ctei-za jumped on her back and twisted her arm. He locked it in a grip that made it impossible for her to move unless she wanted to tear the joint from it's socket. The midget pressed down his knee on her neck and hissed in her disheveled tresses. "Do you surrender, female?"

Yuri grunted and tried to roll them both but her shoulder creaked in warning. Her entire body was on fire. It felt like her brain was boiling inside her skull and her yon-i was throbbing maddeningly between her legs. She could feel Ctei-za bury his face in her tresses and inhale deeply. _Pauk!_ She needed this s'yuit-de heat under control. His rigid ze'pha was poking her in the back awkwardly and he ground it against her for stimulation. She growled in warning. If he defiled her she would rip it off slowly and wear it as a necklace!

A startled gasp escaped her mouth when she felt his sharp teeth sink into the muscle between her shoulder and neck. His two working mandibles pierced her hide. The vibrations of his growl traveled through her fibres until she felt it in her marrow. It was oddly soothing. Fluid coursed and leaked between her legs. She felt as if her head was in a daze and was not even aware of how she arched her back and extended her rear. 

Ctei-za revelled in the taste of her thwei. He had never savoured anything sweeter. He felt like he could drink all of her and never become full. Having her pinned underneath him made him feel powerful in a way he rarely felt. Her scent was driving him mad. Up close it was impossible to resist. He was already on the brink of spilling his seed. The thought of doing so on her back and miss the chance to make her fat with his pup was the only thing that stopped him from having an accident right then and there.

Yuri felt him take a handful of her tresses in his paw and pull at them boldly. She moaned into the ground as the tingling in her scalp spread through her body, electrifying her nerves. Her muscles were turning into jelly. Somewhere in the back of her mind an old memory of Set was arguing with her but she had lost all resistance and could not make out what the ghost was saying. 

"Pauk me already!" She growled into the ground and shredded the grass with her talons. 

Ctei-za suppressed a whimper that wanted to escape his mouth. He moved down her back with urgency, but did not dare to let go of her arm completely. Females could be sneaky. Her muscular rump was almost lifted off the ground and he could clearly see the wet slit in her scales. His ze'pha twitched with eagerness. The scents of both their dai-shui and thwei permeated the air.

He had to let go of her arm to spread her cleft but Yuri was lying still and pliable on the ground. He positioned himself and breached her yon-i in one quick thrust. Yuri gasped and her inner walls clenched down. Ctei-za whined and froze, she was so pauk-de tight! He felt his gonads pulse. It was too soon! He was not even half-way inside. With a desperate roar he thrust with his entire bulk and hit the entrance to her womb. His ejaculation burst as soon as the tip smacked the barricade. Every muscle in his body shuddered as he was spreading his mandibles wide, panting for air. His blood transformed into molten rock.

The moment Ctei-za collapsed on her back, Yuri undazzled herself and shook him off. What the pauk had she just done! She felt disgusting! She did not give him a single look and sprinted into the river where she sat down and tried to rinse off every drop of seed inside her. She hoped to Paya it would not take, what if she was in gestation with another annoying midget already! Yuri groaned and dipped her crest in the icy water.

When she emerged again Ctei-za was standing on the shore, watching her. "Well, that was fun," he chuckled. "But we need to pick up the trail if we want to catch that ic'jit."

Yuri gave him an accusing glare and started to swim to the other side. It was best to just pretend this never happened. Knee-high was right behind her, paddling with his stubby legs, looking stupid. She did not want to think about her reaction if he began to brag left and right about their mating when they returned to camp. Not that it was shameful to mate during a hunt, but everyone knew she hated Knee-high and his trophy wall was not worthy of a female like her. There would be talk, and she did not like it.

She took point and started to run, as much to catch up with the bad blood as keeping her distance from the midget. The grassland on the other side of the river transitioned into a thick forest again. The trail of thwei was thinning out, but they could still follow it in the dto. 

A metallic shimmer up ahead caught her eye and she signalled Knee-high to slow down and keep quiet. He was breathing too loud, having pushed himself hard to keep up with her. They snuck closer and saw a spaceship emerge from the undergrowth. It was a Yautja shuttle. Its nose was smashed and the viewport gaped open. What the pauk did another scout ship do in the middle of their hunting zone? Ctei-za had stopped and stared at the cockpit with his mandibles flared. Yuri tilted her head and observed his expression. "Spit it out, midget." Her paws settled on her hips and she shook her head. What was it that he saw in the ship?


	9. Chapter 9

Ctei-za ignored Yuri's demand and sprinted to the side of the vessel. The door to the ship gaped open but the landing ramp had not been extended. He had to climb up the side to gain entry. Yuri was right behind him. 

The cargo hold had been customized to carry live prey, he noticed it immediately. Thick metal bars lined the far end like a cage almost, but at one section they had been bent. He could not tell if from the impact of the crash or by manual force. His eyes narrowed but he continued towards the control room. Inside, they found the pilot still strapped in the pilot's chair. He was arched back, his head and dreads hanging over the back of the chair. 

Ctei-za's paws tightened into fists at his sides as he approached the obviously dead Yautja. Mandibles tightened over his inner mouth as he gazed upon the corpse. The ribs had been broken, pushed outward, and were protruding from a large hole that gaped in the middle of his chest. Ctei-za unclasped the ties holding the pilot's bio-mask together and removed it carefully from the Yautja's shoulder. The scarification on his crest had confirmed what he suspected when he first saw the shuttle: the dead pilot had been a fellow Ctei-Tjau'ke hunter. 

_Pauk._ It was Dteinou.

"This is bad." Yuri joined his side and was now regarding the body over his shoulder. Ctei-za clicked his mandibles but remained unmoving as he looked over the somewhat familiar features. _If only she knew…_

"The pilot was one of my clan members," Ctei-za said stoically, before he turned his attention to the mask. It was as unoperational as their own. "He was a passing acquaintance."

Yuri, who was eyeing the gory injury, shifted her gaze to Ctei-za. "What of it?"

"His name was Dteinou," Ctei-za paused for a moment, grimacing as he was reminded of his broken mandibles. He thought hard at what he was about to say next. She was not a member of his clan… he flicked his eyes to hers and continued, "He was a vocal critic of the alliance between our clans." 

She deserved to know the truth.

Piercing, gold eyes narrowed, "How critical?" Yuri queried. 

"Enough to sabotage an Elite kv'var." Ctei-za could not tear his eyes from the wound. This was not an injury sustained from the crash. Yuri was right. This was _bad. Very bad._

"Knee-high!" Her hiss broke his fixation. Ctei-za turned his head towards her and then he saw what she was looking at. In a dark corner of the cockpit a pile of rotting flesh was wrapped in sticky r'ka resin. Crowning the disgusting mess, a rough shelled egg with opened petals. 

"That explains the chest wound," Ctei-za stated calmly. He wondered briefly if Dteinou had removed his mask for the same reason they had…

Yuri clicked in agreement, and voiced his exact musings, "He must have removed his helmet when it stopped working." Her tusks clicked thoughtfully. "It is the only reason he would remove it." 

As if on cue both Elites checked their masks hanging on their belts, they were still inoperational. The lack of its protection was keenly felt by the pair as they eyed the dead Yautja. It could have been either of them wearing a pki'tle instead of their bio-mask.

Ctei-za's attention returned to the pilot and he was quick to relieve him of his weapons. He had not been carrying much they could use. A dagger which the midget gave to Yuri and a smart disc he stashed in his weapons holster. It was pretty useless deactivated but it could be thrown as a distraction. Dteinou's bio-mask contained proof of the betrayal if they managed to get it back operational. Ctei-za put it in his pack. He would bring the evidence to the clan leader.

They searched the cockpit, looking specifically for the corpse of the parasitic creature. Yuri discovered the shriveled carcass of the pki'tle behind a panel. She speared it on the dagger and shook it off into a corner. At least another threat they could write off. 

"What do you know about Dteinou, besides his resistance to the alliance?" Yuri asked and stepped out from the cockpit into the cargo hold.

Ctei-za followed and looked around closely for more eggs or fresh signs of r'ka. "I think I remember where I last met him," he clicked and waited for Yuri to look at him before he continued. "He was working at a facility that researched genetically modified r'ka."

"Genetically modified r'ka?" Yuri chuffed. "Why would anyone research that?"

"To develop more challenging prey?" Ctei-za countered. "It is not dishonorable to improve other species to make them better prey."

"I did not say it was!" Yuri sneered back. "I just questioned why anyone would modify them genetically when we already know they take traits from their hosts."

"But even with the best hosts they are not all that challenging to Elite hunters." Ctei-za inspected the crooked bars. The winged r'ka Guan-kantra killed might have been strong enough to bend them.

"The cargo he had trapped in the back, do you think it was the r'ka we killed?" Yuri seemed to read his mind again.

 _You should ask your hero Setg'in-yu'san about what r'ka we were supposed to hunt,_ Ctei-za thought to himself, but he did not say it out loud, instead he said, "It is a possibility."

"Whatever the motive to disturb the kv'var was, we need to hunt down the ui'stbi," Yuri told him. "We cannot have an abomination on the loose."

"I know." Ctei-za hissed back. As if he would run away like a tarei'hsan. "It is not in here anymore. We searched the entire ship."

They jumped down and left the shuttle. The dto would take it eventually and the ic'jit in the pilot's chair deserved to rot inside it. No honour given.

The thwei stains became more sparse as they continued to follow the trail. The ui'stbi was a fast healer. By now it was obvious that they were not chasing another Yautja. It was something much worse, an abomination that had to be killed at all costs. They reached a highland where the river they crossed thousands of metras ago seemed to originate from. On both sides of a plateau a waterfall spewed from the mountains, crashing over jagged rocks. 

"No wonder the water was cold as pauk!" Ctei-za exclaimed. Further away they could see mountains with snowy peaks. The fluorescent drops continued up the side of the mountain. It was not a steep climb but they were soon hundreds of metras up and their choices of routes were limited. This was not an ideal place for a melee fight. Yuri had nothing but a short dagger and Ctei-za was armed with his retracted combistick. It was downgraded to a mere club at this point.

The trail led them up beside the waterfall and onto the flat platform, which they reached after taking an involuntary shower in the icy cascade. Yuri shook the water from her dreads. Tiny droplets scattered over Ctei-za, making him shiver from cold. She was such an inconsiderate female, he looked forward to putting her in her place again. He already felt a familiar pull in his lower abdomen. 

Before he had a chance to voice his suggestion to her, a weight settled on his back and pushed him down on the rock. Yuri spun around on her heels and charged him. Ctei-za closed his eyes when the talons of her foot landed a finger's breadth from his face. The pressure on his back lifted and a warm, stinging sensation prickled his hide. The wounds Yuri had given him had been ripped open again. 

Ctei-za rolled to the side and jumped up on his feet in time to see Yuri land a kick at a reddish-black, spindly creature. It looked like a taller version of an r'ka but on top of its tubular head it grew long, rubbery appendages and its eyeless face had a set of underdeveloped mandibles surrounding the fang riddled mouth. The ui'stbi flared its short mandibles at Yuri and lifted its trident-tipped thagomizer to swipe her off the cliff. Ctei-za acted instinctively and threw his combistic at its head. The weapon hit its cheek and flung its head to the side, giving Yuri a chance to sidestep the lashing tail as the abomination tried to impale her. 

The short Yautja rallied to her side. He was fast enough to provide the distraction Yuri needed to get an opening with her dagger and still stay out of its reach. He used his bodyweight to throw himself at one of its legs. The abomination wobbled but kept its balance. It bent down and sunk its teeth into his back, tearing off a chunk of meat. His howl echoed between the mountains. Yuri stabbed her dagger into the creature's side, barely piercing the tough exoskeleton. The small wound drizzled with fluorescent thwei. Its green-stained, crystalline teeth snapped at her weapon as she withdrew her arm. 

Ctei-za grabbed its tail and tried to pull it but he misjudged its strength. The abomination slammed him into the side of the mountain. He dropped down to his knees, stunned. 

The monster turned around and hissed, flaring its mandibles at Yuri once more. It whipped its tail forward, tearing a laceration from Yuri's shoulder plate to her wristguard. The pain was barely noticeable, though it angered the female as she gritted her teeth and adrenaline flooded her limbs. 

She ducked a swipe from its talons and evaded another lash of the tail. It was swifter than anything the Yautja had ever faced. Yuri needed to get closer to use her blade but she also had to stay out of reach of its claws, and its long tail made the endeavor treacherous. She attacked with the dagger again. It got stuck between two ribs and the hilt slid from her paw as the abomination twisted its body. It pushed her away with a fluid motion and pulled the dagger from its own chest. Without taking its focus off Yuri it threw the weapon into the waterfall.

The ui'stbi plodded towards her, its dreadlike appendages arced. Yuri charged without hesitation. They collided together like great beasts. The female Yautja was roughly the same size, but weighed more, she was also just as strong. Her beastial roar echoed as they grappled.

A numbing pain shot through her right thigh. The pauk-de trident thagomizer had lanced her right through the dense muscle and impaled itself in the thick bone. Fluorescent thwei spattered on the rock when the ui'stbi withdrew its tail. Yuri felt her leg begin to fold underneath her. She snarled as she continued to slash despite her injury. 

They shoved at each other, the abomination using its bulk to try and send Yuri backwards towards the cliff edge. It roared triumphantly and kicked at the Yautja's wounded leg. She roared in pain and her balance faltered. She fell back, her arms flailing desperately. Another kick, this time aimed at her midsection, sent her flying off.

Yuri freefell for a couple of seconds, her talons scraping granite, before she managed to grab the edge of a plateau. She dug in for purchase and using her good leg, made to heave herself over the edge, but the thwei made the rock slippery. Yuri found herself floundering, she struggled for a moment before she stilled completely. The ui'stbi had leaned over the edge and was looking down at her. Its mouth parted, stubby mandibles flared, great globs of slimy saliva leaked freely, landing just inches from Yuri's paws.

A roar behind them had the abomination turn its head. Ctei-za was pummeling its back with the smart disc they found on the ship. He was doing his best to distract it from finishing off Yuri. She flung a leg over the ledge and pulled herself up just as the ui'stbi twisted its body and clawed Ctei-za's chestplate, making him fall on his back. He returned just as quickly, but the monster smashed its fist on his crest, a crunch echoed and the midget fell back. She could not tell if he lived as he remained motionless.

Yuri was still on her stomach, struggling to get up when the ui'stbi spun around and launched itself in the air. She tried to roll away but the creature landed on her chest with its entire bulk. The air was pushed from Yuri's lungs and her belt unclasped, spilling out the contents of her pouch. She thrashed to get away and raked her talons along the thick exoskeleton, but it was futile, the ui'stbi had her pinned to the ground. If only she had held on to the ceremonial dagger! At that point Yuri felt a tip prickling her thigh. She was lying on something sharp. _The stake of graphite!_ She had completely forgotten about Sara's gift up until now. With a single motion Yuri grabbed it and drove the stake into the ui'stbi's head. It froze and convulsed before falling to the side in a limp heap. Ctei-za's familiar bog-green head soon crowned over the abomination's body, a trickle of blood marked his face. 

"This is what I call a party-hunt!" He trilled happily and offered his paw to help pull Yuri up.

"What do you mean, midget? I was the one doing the killing!" Yuri huffed back and pulled herself up to her feet with the help of her forced partner. "The trophy is all mine!"

"Without my help you would be crushed on the base of the mountain, female!" Ctei-za's voice raised in agitation.

"It was still my kill!" Yuri hissed and flared her lower mandibles at him. 

"I need that trophy for the mating season!" Ctei-za arched his back and flared his two working mandibles at her.

"Come and get the th'syra then, midget!" Yuri roared and spread out her arms intimidatingly.

Ctei-za roared back and came at her. He tried to butt her in the stomach, but Yuri was prepared and danced to the side. She knew all his s'yuit-de moves! She gave him a kick in the ass as he charged past her, making him stumble and fall on the rock. Yuri straddled his back and elbowed his spine. Ctei-za grunted as the air left his lungs. 

"You will _not_ need that th'syra for the mating season!" She hissed at his neck. "No one will have you!"

Ctei-za was lying oddly calm on the ground. For a moment Yuri thought she had gone too far and injured him severely. Until she smelled his dai-shui permeate the crisp mountain air. The s'yuit-de was turned on again! She roared and grabbed his dreads, smashing his face into the mountain. His musk blended with the scent of fresh thwei. 

"Reel it in s'yuit-de, because the next time you flaunt it, I will rip it off." Yuri punched his lower back for emphasis. The midget groaned into the rock. He was thankfully still lying prone on the ledge as she stood up. She took to dealing with the ui'stbi th'syra by crushing its neck with her foot and ripping the head off. If her wristblades had been working she would have cut off and saved the spine. The skull was almost too big to fit her pouch. A few dreads spilled from the rim. 

She wiped the blood from her face and sealed her wounds with her healing salve. The one on her arm needed a few clamps to stay closed, and her thigh would need time to mend as well. She ignored Ctei-za's back. He could bleed for all she cared.

She was ready to climb down when a muffled sound carried over the water's swell. Stopping to focus, she heard the noise again. It was coming from a crevasse in the mountain. As she reached the gap, Ctei-za had joined her side and they both peeked over the edge. There, deposited in a natural fissure, cocooned in r'ka resin, Guan-kantra groaned and lifted his head up towards them.


	10. Chapter 10

Remarkably, the abomination had not only kept Guan-kantra alive, but it had also refrained from injuring him severely. A few bruises and a broken forearm was all that ailed the grey Elite. In the crevasse below him, Yuri had found the remains of what looked like another Yautja. If it was Kiloun-j'pi or N'ithya was impossible to tell, the body was already half-decomposed, forming into an egg. They smashed the immature progeny into a sticky pulp. The r'ka wing Guan-kantra had claimed as a trophy was nowhere to be found. Fortunately, his pouch was found in the bottom of the crack. The large talon was still inside the bag, proof of the tampering Dteinou had done to the kv'var.

The three Elites were now all that remained of the original hunting party. They could not be certain that all the r'ka had been killed, but once they finished searching the area surrounding the nest, the three survivors decided to trek back to Nrak-ytara's ship and wait for rescue.

Once they reached the scout ship night had already fallen. Without working wrist gauntlets there was no way to enter it, they had to endure the chill that settled over them after the sun had set.

Yuri paced restlessly, circling the ship. Her mood was deteriorating quickly. Everytime she passed the males huddled up together against the keel, her anger was refueled.

"Are you not fighting to get the th'syra anymore?" She snarled at Ctei-za, flexing her shoulder muscles and neck.

Ctei-za kept his gaze on the rust-colored grass. "The trophy is yours," he huffed, "You killed it, I assisted."

His nonchalant answer only infuriated Yuri. Was the skull not good enough for him now? She snarled and stalked up to the males. "What kind of answer is that, s'yuit-de!"

The short male cocked his head and met her glare. "What do you mean?" He visibly tensed. Guan-kantra caught on and observed the pair. Ctei-za rumbled, "I said you could have it! Do you want me to fight you?"

Yuri snorted and raised her chin up in the air. "You gave it up pretty fast, male. It makes me think you never appreciated the effort it took to collect it!"

Ctei-za shot up to his feet and snarled, "What are you playing at, female!" He strode towards her with his shoulders squared and mandibles flared.

"Sit down, s'yuit-de!" Yuri hissed, her own mandibles spreading in return. "A midget like you should have been neutered right after your chiva!"

"The pauk, Yuri!" Ctei-za snarled and threw his satchel on the ground. "I have a name! _Ctei-za_. Say it for once, you ignorant wei-ghe'h, instead of your incessant slander!"

Yuri retorted with a furious roar. She shoved so hard at Ctei-za's shoulder that the midget was almost sent flying backwards, but he somehow managed to keep his footing. Bending her knees to lower her center of gravity, Yuri started to encircle him. Not bothering to wait for a response to her challenge, she extended her arms, ready to grapple with the short male.

Guan-kantra protested from somewhere to her side, but Yuri paid him no heed. Her sole focus was aimed at the midget in front of her. His muscles bunched when he puffed up his chest and roared back at her, he actually reached up and shoved her shoulder back. The sound almost made the air vibrate. Around them, the night was completely soundless except for their lightly treading feet in the grass. There was no wind. No ambient noises. It gave the illusion that they were completely alone in the entire universe.

Ctei-za made the first move. He charged and tried to grab her arm. Yuri moved to the side and spun around, kicking his hamstring airily. His dreads slapped against his cheeks when he twirled to face her. Yuri barked out a loud laugh that made him narrow his yellow eyes at her.

"Has this kv'var taken its toll on you?" She mocked him and threw back her long, brown dreads over her shoulder.

The effect was instant. The midget barrelled into her with another roar, but Yuri had no difficulty fending him off. She sent him back with a punch in the chest. Ctei-za coughed and doubled over, only to immediately straighten out again. He took a more defensive position and drew back, waiting for Yuri to make a move. 

She followed after him deliberately, pushing them further away from the vessel. The uneasiness she had battled ever since reaching the ship burned through her veins. Why did Knee-high have to be annoying, _all the time!_

She feigned a kick, the midget reacted exactly as she predicted, he flinched and drew up his knee to block. All it took was a heartbeat for Yuri to ram him and throw him down on his back, falling on top of him and pinning him completely beneath her weight. The exhilaration of victory spread to every part of her body until she was buzzing. He glared at her defiantly while she laughed at him in a series of rapid clicks, he was no match for her. Yuri's eyes moved to his short tresses that were spread on the turf around his crest. 

Without warning she took one in her paw and squeezed it hard. Ctei-za stiffened and stifled a surprised yowl, his bright eyes widened briefly. She repeated the action, adding a second dread, he grunted, his pupils dilating. His submission was expected. Why would a male such as him not bow down in front of a powerful female like herself? He should be thankful to walk the same ground as her, thank her for every moment she wasted giving him attention. 

Ctei-za was writhing on the ground like a worm. Yuri let go of the dreads and grabbed one of his broken mandibles instead. His entire body froze the moment she wrapped her paw around it. Yuri lifted some of her weight off him now that he was properly subdued. Her eyes roamed his form, lingering on his stubby, maggot arms, then down over his chest and abdomen. She huffed and squeezed his mouth-appendage tighter in annoyance.

"A word from you, male, and you will regret it." Ctei-za received another squeeze for emphasis that made him hiss. His eyes were still locked on her face, but he made no move to challenge her.

Yuri slid down to sit on his legs. Her eyes moved automatically to his loincloth. Why was it not tented? The little pauk-de was always throwing her looks. Previously he had become erect from fighting, why not now? She felt irritation build again. 

Yuri unclasped his belt and ripped the loincloth open. His sheath was closed like a clam. She observed him with narrowed eyes, her head tilted to the side. His arms were lying loosely by his sides. He said nothing, even when she ran one of her long, black talons over the crease in his scales. Tired of his nonsense, Yuri moved up his body and straddled him. Ctei-za finally stopped staring at her and turned his gaze up towards the night sky. 

She rolled her hips into him sharply, her own loincloth did nothing to prevent contact in this position. It was only now she noticed how achingly empty her canal felt. Her insides were twitching. She slumped forward and grabbed his biceps, pushing his arms hard into the ground while she rubbed her wet slit against his sheath. Ctei-za gasped. 

Yuri let out a low growl when her deliberate movements finally bore fruit. Her channel sucked in the peeking tip of his ze'pha eagerly. Before long she felt the organ swell and push its way up her slippery cavity. The relief she felt when he stretched her was nothing short of exquisite. Her entire body trembled. 

With a buck of his hips, Ctai-za bottomed out inside her, pressing the head of his member against her cervix. It made her vision blacken. She ground down on him again, harder this time, and began to ride him. Everytime she slammed down on him, delirious pleasure rocked her insides. Yuri's pace was unforgiving, brutal. Her talons cut into the scales of his arms, the scent of his blood on the air had her salivating. Ctei-za threw his head back and groaned as she snarled at him, sending spittle flying. He was unable to move more than the occasional short thrust upwards, his legs were shifting restlessly. 

The pleasure was building steadily inside Yuri, taut like a bowstring, stretched to the limit of snapping. Her hips thundered on his groin, relentlessly, unmercifully. She was chasing her high, she was so close. Raising her head to the sky, her eyes closed and she purred loudly. 

Ctei-za panted under her, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. He wheezed weakly, as he felt his stomach clench, "S-slow…ugh… down…" He swallowed a gulp of air, grunted and then shouted, "Paya!" His voice cracked, failing to convey anything else, his entire body stiffened underneath her. Yuri did not notice his ejaculation as it burst inside of her. She kept her pace the same, riding him until the pain of overstimulation made him thrash uncontrollably to get loose, " _Stop!_ " His shriek was pitched, "Pauk, you are killing me!"

His softening length was not able to reach that spot inside Yuri anymore. It slipped out after a few more bucks. To say she was disappointed was an understatement. She grabbed a handful of dreads and pulled him up to a sitting position without warning. He squeaked as she snarled savagely in his face, saliva sprayed over his features. Her eyes flashed dangerously as she fixed them on his. Her mandibles flared to their limit, her fangs dripped in her anger. 

He opened his mouth and realized he was about to eat her fist, she was going to beat him to death, when a voice from behind them seemed to pull her out of her frenzy.

"What the pauk just happened?" Guan-kantra rasped, snapping out of his shock, "You two hate each other!"

Yuri turned her head sharply, dreads arcing over her shoulders, eyes blazing. She forgot that Knee-high even existed, her paw opened, releasing his dreads and dropping him to the ground unceremoniously. Her entire focus was on the big, grey Elite's midsection and the smell of his dai-shui as it filled the clearing. Her hunting instincts flared when she saw the bulge underneath his loincloth. With an agile twist of her body, she twirled up to her feet and closed in on the male. He stood completely still, assessing her mood.

Yuri locked her eyes with his and grabbed his belt roughly, pulling him against her. She dipped her talons underneath the waistband of his loincloth. Guan-kantra clenched his abs and inhaled sharply. 

"Strip." Her commanding growl blew warm air over his crest. He swallowed thickly, and his paws made quick work of the belt. Yuri purred with pleasure as the metal covering dropped to the ground. His heavy erection bobbed beneath her attention. It was as girthy as the midget's, but about a talon's length longer, her fingers wrapped around it tightly.

The grey male purred back at her, his voice an octave lower than hers. Without further persuasion, he ripped off her loincloth. Guan-kantra traced a talon over her hip bone. Yuri twitched, she felt the excess of seed mixed with her own juices dribble along her inner thigh, her grip tightened on his length. Guan-kantra moved his paw lower and ran a digit over her groin and in between her legs. When he pulled it out it was glistening, he raised the paw to his mouth and licked it clean with his forked tongue. Yuri tilted her head to the side and studied him. 

Guan-kantra clicked his mandibles at her and gave her a searing look that sent a jolt of desire straight down her spine. He grabbed her hips in both paws and dug the tips of his talons into her scales. Her breath hitched from excitement. With a nimble move he threw her to the ground and followed on top. He pulled her larger body by the waist until her core was flush against his ridged erection. Her long dreads were spread on the ground and the soft turf cushioned her back when Guan-kantra moved in and thrust deep into her throbbing yon-i. 

Her back arched off the ground and she hissed hoarsely. When he pulled out next, he caught one of her legs in his paws and lifted it over his shoulder. She snarled at his familiarity, her mandibles flaring, but the next push delved deeper than she ever thought possible and it silenced her. A primal sound left her mouth instead and sparks danced over her retinas. He pauked into her with slow, deep thrusts, his claws digging in her scales. Yuri could only sink into the grass and whimper. 

The building pleasure doubled when prickling jolts of sensation zapped through her bony crest. It moved from the tips of her dreads to her head and spread further. When she turned to see what was happening, Ctei-za was sprawled on the ground beside her, stroking her long tresses deliberately. Their gazes met briefly until a wave of pleasure made her close her eyes and gasp for air.

Ctei-za continued to pull her dreads gingerly with one paw while the other stroked her neck, collarbone and down over her breastbone. The hormones set loose from her heat period made her small teats swell and the scales normally covering them brighten. A zing of pleasure hit her when Ctei-za bent his head over her chest and flicked one of the swollen buds with his tongue. She mewled and fisted the grass with her paws. Guan-kantra increased the pace of his thrusts, the head of his ze'pha battered the sensitive entrance to her womb. She was wound up to the brink of bursting, pleasure assaulting her on three fronts. 

With every push Guan-kantra worked to open up the muscle sealing her uterus. It was slowly yielding, with each shuddering moan the males increased their efforts to make her shatter. Ctei-za nibbled her sensitive teat just as Guan-kantra smashed his hips into her roughly. Her cervix opened, allowing the tapered tip inside her womb. Yuri dug her claws into the dirt, her entire body shuddered as waves of sweltering pleasure wracked her. Her mouth opened and a savage snarl escaped. It took a moment for her to come back to alertness, and she could feel the pulse of Gauan-kantra's release through her tender walls. He sank into her and panted out his climax. 

The grey Elite rolled off her lazily but just as her eyes fluttered close from the exertion, she was flipped over onto her stomach. Her legs were pulled apart and she was breached by another stiff ze'pha. It slid deep inside her with ease, making her exhausted channel cramp around it. Guan-kantra sat up and watched from the side as Ctei-za went for another round. He slapped his hips into Yuri's behind ruggedly. The tip prodding her loosened cervix. She whined into the grass, pleasure building again, faster than before. Ctei-za increased his pace, at the same time Guan-kantra moved closer and tugged on one of her dreads.

"Pauk!" She panted roughly, the forceful thrusts made her body move forward in the grass, even though she tried to brace herself. She wanted all their seed, wanted to bear their pups! Yuri keened as another mind-shattering climax washed over her. Ctei-za continued to pump into her and before long Yuri came again. The fatigue made her crash helplessly into the ground. 

Numb from pleasure and completely spent, the three Elites huddled up in a pile of muscle and slept, for the first time since the kv'var started.

  


* * *

  


Darkness still surrounded her when Yuri woke up again. She was leaning on Guan-kantra's shoulder, his other arm was plastered over her chest. Ctei-za was curled up between her legs, resting his heavy head on her thigh. She shook him awake first. Her back ached from the uncomfortable sleeping arrangement. The midget shook his head and blinked to get the weariness from his eyes. 

"Is it morning?" He yawned and stretched his back as he rose.

"Not here anyway," Yuri clicked and carefully detached herself from Guan-kantra to not wake him needlessly.

Ctei-za looked out in the distance and froze. "Cjit!" He growled angrily at himself and shook his head. "We forgot to post a guard. What if an r'ka..."

Yuri stopped him with a paw on his arm. "Nothing happened. Relax," she clicked her mandibles at him. 

Ctei-za tilted his head to the side and regarded her. "Someone is...relaxed." 

Yuri pushed his shoulder, half playfully, half sincere. "Try not to be a s'yuit-de."

Guan-kantra groaned and came up to sit slowly. He rubbed his neck. "I think I fell asleep on a stone… What did you do to us?" He could not help to tap his mandibles in amusement.

Yuri snorted. She checked her wrist gauntlet on routine. It flashed blue and the safety mechanism told her it was working as it should. No connection to the plasma caster, which was as it should, because she left it on her ship…. _Wait!_ "Hold on!" Yuri sputtered in surprised excitement.

She ran up to the scout ship and tapped in the unlocking sequence. The vessel beeped and the doors opened as the ramp slid down. Guan-kantra and Ctei-za spurted to her side and checked their own wrist gauntlets. Yuri snapped on her bio-mask. It lit and the visor turned from murky grey to electro-magnetic vision. She flipped it over to normal heat vision. "Finally!" She could not help to shout out her happiness and she dunked Guan-kantra's back with her paw. "Get your gear!"

Guan-kantra and Ctei-za gathered their packs and they stepped into the ship. The control panel hummed when Yuri touched the board. She had never felt so happy to have access to technology. She tried to communicate with the basecamp but the device gave her no response. 

Regardless of not being able to contact the camp and announce their return, Yuri started the engines and the ship shot up into the air. 

As she piloted, Ctei-za picked up Dteinou's mask. He and Guan-kantra went over the footage. It had recorded the crash as well as the events that took place before. Their talking suddenly quieted and the silence that followed their chitter made Yuri's inner alarm go off. She left the ship on auto-pilot and stepped behind them. The footage they were looking at showed the dead bad blood, Dteinou, talking with an elderly Yautja with snow white dreads and a scar across his left cheek. He looked familiar. Yuri was positive she had seen him on the kv'var.

"Elder P'kya'uha," Ctei-za explained while gritting his teeth behind his mask. His eyes gleamed with deadly contempt in the visor. "He is a bad blood too. Pauk!"

They replayed the clip for Yuri. It showed how the Elder allowed Dteinou access into one of the genetic laboratories by giving him a special clearance chip.

"He was against this joint kv'var the entire time," Ctei-za growled as she watched the footage.

"Who is he? One of your clan?" Yuri studied the clip carefully to store the image of the bad blood into her mask.

"Yes," Ctei-za answered, "and one of the overseers of this kv'var."

"We need to send this clip to the clan leaders," Yuri moved back into the pilot's chair and increased the speed. The leaders needed to be informed right away.

They did not say another word to each other the rest of the trip back. The information weighed heavily on them. An Elder that incriminated himself to the point of becoming a bad blood? It was shameful, dishonourable. 

The ship landed in the glade where Set had announced the lottery. Several hunters had apparently already returned from their zones. Their ships were parked near the edge of the forest. Yuri grabbed the nearest hunter that passed them when they left the ship. "Where is Setg'in-yu'san?"

"In his ship?" The overseer was taken aback by her intensity. 

Yuri let go of his arm and started to run. The Ctei-Tjau'ke males were right behind her. 

She banged her paws on Set's craft to get his attention. Sara was the one that let her in. 

"Hi Yuri! I saw you on the monitor, how was the hunt?" She fiddled with a band and re-tied the knot around her long, brown hair.

"Set?" Yuri panted and looked around the compartment.

"In there." The ooman female pointed her index finger at the door to the cockpit that also served as Set's temporary study on his travels.

Yuri wasted no time to stalk up to the door and knocked incessantly on the metal until Set opened. He gave her a growl of warning to simmer down until she shoved Dteinou's bio-mask into his chest.

"We have a traitor among us," her tense voice made him narrow his eyes and regard the mask. He clicked his mandibles and let her inside. 

Ctei-za and Guan-kantra stayed outside the ship and waited for Yuri to return. Set would inform the rest of the clan leaders once Yuri had detailed everything that happened on the kv'var. They could do nothing but rest and watch the hunters that passed by.

  


* * *

  


A long time passed and the males started to wonder if Yuri was doing something else inside the ship besides giving Set the account. She could do as she pleased of course, she was a female and they had the final say in who they mated with, but a part of Ctei-za hoped she would reserve this estrus for him and Guan-kantra. Only to increase the chances of his seed bearing fruit of course.

A notice flashed in his mask, it was a broadcast to all hunters. An image of P'kya'uha together with instructions to kill on sight. Apparently the clan leaders had decided to end the remaining bad blood without interrogations. It was highly unlikely he would divulge anything about other accomplices, even under torture. Yauja pain thresholds were unsurpassed by any species.

When Yuri emerged from the ship only moments later. Another notice was sent out. P'kya'uha had already been shot by another overseer as soon as the alert was broadcasted. The bad blood had fired at a nearby hunter with his plasma caster as soon as he knew he had been found out, but another overseer had put a stop to his attempted escape by shooting him in the head as he tried to run to his ship.

"Did Set say anything interesting?" Ctei-za asked while they started to walk. 

Yuri needed to think about it for a moment. Then her eyes brightened behind her visor and she turned to Ctei-za. "Do you remember that we failed to communicate with the camp?"

Ctei-za hummed in affirmation and waited for her to explain. Yuri continued, "The reason our technology stopped working was because of solar flares." She pointed up at the dark night sky above them. "Once the planet spun away from the sun, technology came back. They had the same problem here. It returned later for them because our zone was located on another continent, farther away from the sun."

"Oh." Ctei-za's eyes widened slightly and he silenced.

"So when morning comes, our technology will stop working again?" Guan-kantra joined the conversation. He had taken a few steps back once they reached basecamp again. This was the first he had said to her since they landed.

"Probably." Yuri shrugged. "They think so. Safe planet huh?" She laughed clickingly. Despite it all, her mood was improving more and more. 

"You know. I actually thought you would pauk Set too in there, it took so long!" Ctei-za half-joked, but there was a hint of seriousness in his voice. "Did you?"

"What?" Yuri snorted and laughed again. "That is such a s'yuit-de thing to ask. What if I did, _Knee-high._ "

Ctei-za turned his head forward and sulked. "Forget I asked."

They stopped in front of the enclosure where Yuri's hounds were kept. Most of them had been returned already but there was still one team with trackers that had yet to arrive. The hounds ran up to the fence and barked eagerly once they caught Yuri's scent. She turned back to face the Ctei-Tjau'ke males and an awkward silence ensued.

Ctei-za cleared his throat and threw a look back at the camp. "Well, I need to find someone that can help set my mandibles straight…" He flickered his eyes to look at Guan-kantra who shrugged. "It needs to be someone with more nimble paws than him." Ctei-za elbowed his friend in the gut.

"I see. Good luck," Yuri replied indifferently and turned her attention to the hounds.

As she twisted her head to look over her shoulder, the two males were already walking away. It was as it should. They were not life-partners just because they had mated once or twice. She growled at herself irritably and entered the pen to reacquaint herself with the pack.

The loss of the two hounds that were killed in the kv'var was still nagging at her. It was never easy. She had known and trained them since they were born. Nrak-ytara was hunting with Cetanu now. The deaths of the Elites were not bothering her as much. All hunters knew their next kv'var might be their last. She hoped there was a place for canine trackers with the Black Hunter too.

A Ioud trill vibrated through the air and cleared her dark thoughts. A tall Elite with painted dreads and fur-covered armor raised his arm at her in greeting. 

"Da'jeth, well met," she clicked and noticed her two remaining hounds follow a green and olive colored female that held their leashes. Yuri remembered her name, _Taudtui._

The females greeted with shoulder clasps when the leashes were handed over to Yuri.

"Your hounds served me well, Kennel-mistress," Taudtui acknowledged and gave Yuri a short nod.

"Pauk-de too well!" Da'jeth rumbled. "She cheated me of the kill, can you believe it?" His indignation sounded half-hearted to Yuri.

"Cheating has nothing to do with hunting skills, male," Taudtui growled at him.

"I still think you would enjoy looking at my trophy case, female. Over 600 cycles of kv'var-de speaks for itself." Da'jeth gazed into her eyes and whipped his head back to make his black and white tresses slap against his broad shoulders.

"And I told you, male. You are welcome to try when the mating season starts, but no one has defeated me in combat since I became blooded. Ever."

Yuri tilted her head to the side and swallowed down a chuckle. This stubborn female reminded her of herself. She decided she liked Taudtui.

Once the still bantering Elites had left the pen, there was no reason for Yuri to stay anymore. She needed to take the hounds back to Yautja Prime, clean her trophy, which to be honest had started to stink up her satchel, and then prepare for another season aboard the clan ship. 

She moved all the hounds, and stopped to have a quick conversation with a few old acquaintances. Yuri was ready to leave. Dawn would be awhile and Set and the other clan leaders still needed to wait for a couple more parties to return before they could leave.

Before entering her ship, she hauled up the head of the ui'stbi from her bag and inspected it. The graphite stake was still lodged in the cranium. With the treason and everything else, she had forgotten to thank Sara again for the gift. Now that she thought about it, Sara laying her soft ooman paws on Set did not bother her as much as it once did. There were other males than him and Set would most likely outlive his ooman consort even though his thwei extended her life. Yuri would get more chances with him.

She gave the severed head another scan. It could wait a little longer before she polished it. She put it back in her pack and started to run to the other side of the camp where the Ctei-Tjau'ke clan were housed.

The bog-yellow color was easy to spot among the hunters sharing a final meal before departure. He was a couple of heads shorter than the rest and there was only one hunter with silver on grey patterning at his side.

"Does anyone need a ride to Prime?" 

The expressions on their faces were concealed by their masks but she could guess how amusingly surprised they looked underneath the visors. 

"Sei-i, female," Ctei-za purred.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of the line for you crazy few who stuck with Yuri this far. After all these words, there is someone that should receive their due credit. It started off with helping keep Set in character and evolved into finding plot-holes, making the yautja less humanized and adding life and sparkle to the entire story! She has proofread, layered and in many cases rewritten entire passages. I have to be honest, during these trying months she has eared yet another moniker, 'The Cut-happy Bitch'. I can't believe our friendship survived this partnership. She will never edit a story for me again.
> 
> But it would not be the same story without her. Cut-happy Bitch, Queen of Dubcon, Mighty Peacock, elven_prophecy – I still fucking love you!


End file.
